Varnum plans to open a new satellite office in downtown Detroit, a move the law firm expects to execute by the first quarter of 2015.
The Grand Rapids-based practice already has a Metro Detroit office in Novi, but the law firm wants to be closer to some of its larger clients and the growing tech scene in downtown Detroit.
"We're seeing what's going on in Detroit," says Rich Hewlett, partner with
Varnum. "We're seeing the reemergence of the city. We want to be a part of it."
The 127-year-old law firm employs 150 attorneys, including 30 in Novi, 10 of whom are new attorneys it has hired over the last year. Hewlett expects the downtown Detroit office to employ a staff of 20, including 8-10 attorneys.
One of Varnum's larger clients is Henry Ford Health System. The law firm also is running its My Springboard platform, which gives out $1 million in pro-bono law work to new companies. More than half of the startups leveraging that program are in Metro Detroit and the city of Detroit proper. The new office is set up to be within walking distance of downtown's tech firms, courts, and
Henry Ford Health System in New Center.
"With the M-1 Rail we’ll be able to get up and down from Henry Ford and downtown," Hewlett says.
Source: Rich Hewlett, partner with Varnum
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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