Varnum moves into new office in downtown Detroit

The Varnum law firm quietly opened its newest office in downtown Detroit over the weekend, bringing another 20 jobs to the Motor City.

The Grand Rapids-based law firm is taking over 10,000 square feet in the old Federal Reserve Building. It chose the space because of the unique aspects of the historic structure and the proximity to current and potential clients.

"We thought it was a very unique space, a very progressive space," says Rich Hewlett, partner at Varnum. "It's a Dan Gilbert building. We hope to do some work with Gilbert in light of everything that is going on downtown."

Varnum is 128-years-old and bills itself as a full-service law firm for businesses and organizations of all sizes. Its largest client in Detroit is Henry Ford Health System.

Varnum plans to maintain its current metro Detroit office in Novi, however, that office will shrink a little to grow the downtown Detroit office, which will have eight permanent attorneys, six visiting attorneys, two paralegals, and another 10 people in support staff.

"A number of the attorneys from the Novi office are seeding our Detroit office," Hewlett says.

Source: Rich Hewlett, partner at Varnum
Writer: Jon Zemke

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