Intellectual property looks like it has a bright future on the Detroit River. A future that is creating more knowledge workforce jobs now.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark office opened its first satellite office in Detroit last summer. The Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office, which overlooks the Detroit River, quickly attracted the likes of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione. The Chicago intellectual property law firm opened a Detroit office in the same building.
It has been growing since then, expanding to four attorneys and two administrative staff members. It is hiring one more employee now.
"The growth has been as planned," says Kelly Burris, managing shareholder of the Detroit office of
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione. "We planned to add a new attorney in 2013 and we did that." She adds that the office's business plan also calls for hiring another attorney in 2014.
Each attorney represents about 2,000 billable hours annually. The office's work has steadily increased to support the growth and make Burris optimistic for the office's near future.
"Having a presence in Detroit has been received well by Detroit companies," Burris says.
Source: Kelly Burris, managing shareholder of the Detroit office of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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