Dickinson Wright PLLC is a law firm based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. With over 475 lawyers across more than 40 practices and industries, Dickinson Wright serves clients from nineteen offices, six of which are in Michigan. According to the National Law Journal's 2022 NLJ 500 ranking of firms based on size, Dickinson Wright is ranked 102 in the United States.

History

Dickinson Wright was founded in 1878 by two young lawyers, Henry Munroe Campbell and Henry Russel. Members of the firm were involved in drafting the state of Michigan's two constitutions in 1908 and 1963. After President Franklin Delano Roosevelt closed banks nationwide during the banking crisis of 1933, the firm helped organize the new federally-funded National Bank of Detroit (now JPMorgan Chase & Co.) that helped stabilize the state’s banking system and end a 36-day bank holiday. The firm began expanding outside of Michigan in 1978 with the opening of the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Since then, the firm has added five additional offices in Michigan (Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw, and Troy). In the late 2000s, the firm added offices in Toronto, Phoenix, and Nashville. The firm expanded the Toronto office in 2011, the Phoenix office in 2013, and the Las Vegas (NV) office in 2015. The firm opened new offices in Columbus (OH) in 2012 and Lexington (KY) in 2015. Fort Lauderdale (FL) and Austin (TX) offices were added in 2016. The El Paso (TX) office opened in July 2017, and the Silicon Valley office in 2018. In January 1, 2021, the firm opened a Chicago office with the acquisition of Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC. Around the late 1980s and early 1990s, because of the increase in Japanese companies in Metro Detroit, Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman hired a Japanese paralegal and two Japanese lawyers. With its new employees it began publishing a Japanese-language newsletter for Japanese clients and began conducting Japanese-language seminars.Ingrassia and White, p
336
The firm adopted its current name, Dickinson Wright PLLC, when it established itself as a professional limited liability company in January 1998.

Practice areas

Dickinson Wright maintains a diverse range of practice areas, including administrative & regulatory, anti-trust & trade regulation, appellate, automotive, automotive litigation, banking & financial services, bankruptcy, business technology, Canadian & U.S. Litigation Differences, construction, corporate, corporate finance, cyber security, data privacy, emerging business, employee benefits, energy & sustainability, environmental, estate planning & administration, family law, gaming, government relations, healthcare, hospitality, immigration, Native American law, insurance, intellectual property, labor & employment, litigation, media, sports & entertainment, mergers & acquisitions, municipal law & finance, patent litigation, private equity, products liability, real estate, schools & education, securities, taxation and transportation.

Offices

Current

(1878) **The firm's headquarters are in

One Detroit Center Ally Detroit Center, formerly One Detroit Center, is a List of tallest buildings in Detroit, skyscraper and class-A Commercial property, office building located in Downtown Detroit, overlooking the Detroit Financial District. Rising , the 43-st ...

Downtown Detroit Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, downtown tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to the west, Interstate 75 ( ...

.Dickinson Wright renews One Detroit Center lease
" '' Crain's Detroit Business''. December 3, 2007. Retrieved on November 23, 2013. The company moved into the building when it opened in 1992. In 2007 the company had almost of space in the building. That year it renewed its lease. *

Troy, Michigan Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. Its population was 87,294 at the 2020 U.S. census, making Troy the most populous city in the county and the 13th most-populous municipality in the state. Troy is a northern suburb of Me ...

(1966) **Relocated from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern bo ...

in 1972, and from Bloomfield Hills to Troy in 2011. *

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

(1970) *

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(1978) *

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

(1989) *

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

(2000) *

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(2008) **Expanded through a combination with Aylesworth LLP in 2011. *

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

(2009) **Opened through a combination with Stewart Estes & Donnell PLC. *

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

(2009) **Expanded through a combination with Mariscal, Weeks, McIntyre & Friedlander, P.A. in 2013. *

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

(2010) *

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

(2012) *

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

(2012) *

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

(2015) *

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

(2015) *

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

(2016) *

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

(2016) *

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

(2017) *

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...

(2018) *

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

(2021)

Notable lawyers and alumni

* Kerry B. Harvey, former U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, is a Member, Lexington office. *

Dennis Archer Dennis Wayne Archer (born January 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, jurist and former politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served as Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit. He later served as president of the America ...

, former

mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History o ...

, current Chairman Emeritus, Detroit office. *

Vivian Bercovici Vivian Bercovici is a Canadian academic. She is a former adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (2012–2013) and was a member of the CBC's board of directors (2013–2014). In 2014, she was appointed as the Ambassador of Can ...

, former Canadian ambassador to Israel. *

Mary Beth Kelly Mary Beth Kelly is a lawyer and former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. She was elected on November 2, 2010 and took office on January 1, 2011 for an eight-year term that ended on January 1, 2019.Susan Bieke Neilson Susan Bieke Neilson (August 27, 1956 – January 25, 2006) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and before that, a state trial judge in Michigan. Neilson was nominated by President Geor ...

, former judge on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of ...

, former partner. * John Corbett O'Meara, current federal judge of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the United States district court, federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State o ...

. *

Spencer Overton Spencer A. Overton (born August 11, 1968) is an American lawyer, President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and law professor at George Washington University Law School. He is a leading election law scholar, and is a te ...

, professor at

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

, scholar of

election law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management b ...

. *

Henry Saad Henry William Saad (born June 1948, in Detroit, Michigan)Resume
at US Dept of Justice website is a Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...

, former partner. *

David Viviano David Viviano (born December 8, 1971) is a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, appointed by Governor Rick Snyder on February 28, 2013, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Diane Hathaway. Prior to his appointment to the Mi ...

, current Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court. *

Gretchen Whitmer Gretchen Esther Whitmer (born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 a ...

, former Michigan State Senator (D-

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

), current Governor of Michigan. * Brian K. Zahra, current Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Accolades

*''Chambers'' – Chambers & Partners ranked the firm in 2020’s edition of ''Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business'' in the areas of Banking & Finance, Bankruptcy & Restructuring, Corporate/M&A, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Gaming & Licensing, General Commercial Litigation, Immigration, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Media & Entertainment, and Real Estate. *Best Law Firms – ''U.S. News-Best Lawyers''® Named Dickinson Wright a Tier 1 National “Best Law Firm” in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Real Estate Litigation, and Tax Law in 2019 in addition to giving 116 additional First Tier regional rankings in the various practice areas throughout the country. *Corporate Equality Index (CEI) – Dickinson Wright received a perfect score on the 2022 Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The firm also received perfect scores from 2018–2021.

References

* Ingrassia, Paul and Joseph B. White. ''Comeback: The Fall & Rise of the American Automobile Industry''.

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, May 14, 2013. , 9781476737478.

Notes

External links

{{Portal, Michigan, Law, Companies
Homepage

Chambers USA profile

from

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Martindale-Hubbell is an information services company to the legal profession that was founded in 1868. The company publishes the ''Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory'', which provides background information on lawyers and law firms in the United S ...

Organizational Profile at the National Law Review
Law firms established in 1878 Law firms based in Detroit 1878 establishments in Michigan