McShane & Bowie add family law to offerings as Bryan, Quinn join the firm

Experienced family lawyers Kyle J. Quinn and Jennie Boldish Bryan have joined Grand Rapids firm McShane & Bowie.

LEGAL NEWS PHOTO BY CYNTHIA PRICE

by Cynthia Price
Legal News

Seasoned, expert family law attorneys Jennie Boldish Bryan and Kyle Quinn are the key players in a new McShane & Bowie practice in divorce and family law.

“There’s no question that law firms such as McShane & Bowie are seeing value in adding family law practices,” said Bryan. “They do it because their clients need those services, and at the same time our clients need the services of people like the partners here. Selfishly, it’s great to have resources right down the hall who practice tax law, real estate, business, all the types of things we deal with day in and day out on family cases.  They were excited about building a family law practice and it’s a great opportunity for us – the crossover is just so comfortable.”

McShane & Bowie, founded in 1952, is a 25-attorney firm which has stayed close to its roots in Grand Rapids, while servicing both local and national clients from large public corporations and financial institutions to family businesses, non-profits, and individuals. The firm has concentrated on business and corporate matters, including real estate transactions, employer-employee relations, taxation, estate planning, and commercial litigation.

McShane & Bowie was recognized in 2015 as a Top Ranked Law firm based on Martindale-Hubbell ratings. To earn the honor at least one third of lawyers (in a firm with ten or more attorneys) must have achieved the AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating, which fewer than eight percent of attorneys in the U.S. achieve.

“The arrivals of Jennie and Kyle are a meaningful addition to McShane & Bowie,” said managing partner Michelle H. Anthes. “They use compassion, persuasion, negotiation, and aggressive advocacy to help clients successfully navigate sensitive life transitions. Consistent with the firm's charitable and civic involvement, they also devote substantial time and energy to community activities. We are delighted to have them on the McShane & Bowie team.”

Jennie Boldish Bryan, whose broad expertise comes from a legal career of over 30 years, first met Quinn at the firm of RizzoBryan (now RizzoDay), where she was a partner excelling in a variety of divorce and child custody cases. Well-known throughout West Michigan, Bryan  was last featured in the Grand Rapids Legal News in 2013 when she won the Michael S. Barnes Pro Bono Award from Legal Aid of Western Michigan.

A certified mediator, Bryan received her B.A. in business from Stetson University in Florida and started law school at the University of Florida before moving here and finishing up at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing. She worked at Smith Haughey with the namesake of her Legal Aid award, Mike Barnes, after her graduation.

Bryan is also a Fellow of the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, where she has served in leadership roles at the state and national levels. She has also been chair of the Grand Rapids Bar Association Family Law Section, and has shared her expertise widely through speaking and publications.

“While we handle the whole gamut of family law cases, we focus on high income high asset cases, which are more complex. That’s where valuation, hidden income issues, all that, come in,” she says.

Bryan comments about Quinn, “Kyle was hired as a young lawyer  [at RizzoBryan] and immediately showed great interest in family law. He did what we want all associates to do and started serving on boards, like the Kent County Friend of the Court Citizens Advisory Committee. He’s taken on leadership positions in family law including chairing the Grand Rapids Bar section. He also has co-presented with me.”

“I’ve been practicing with Jennie my whole career,” says Quinn, whose father is the well-known family lawyer Michael Quinn of Miller Johnson.

This is not to imply that Quinn rests on his family or any other laurels. He has been named a Rising Star in Family Law by the Super Lawyers since 2015, and has written for Michigan Family Law Journal and the LexisNexis Practice Guide: Michigan Family Law.

Quinn had a distinguished college career both at Michigan State University, where he received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science with high honors and studied abroad at London’s University of Westminster; and at Marquette University Law School, where he was a pro bono society honor recipient, clerked at Milwaukee County Circuit Court and interned for Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel and the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee.

“Family lawyers tend to give back, and I think that’s why this firm was so attractive to us,” Quinn says. “I view the practice of law as a service, not just getting paid, and I think that  trying to help those less fortunate is an essential element of being a lawyer. McShane & Bowie shares that.”

 

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