Back row, Benham R. Wrigley, Jr., of Wrigley, Hoffman and Hendricks and solo attorney James Schepers; seated, Robert A. Hendricks and Thomas A. Hoffman, also of the Wrigley?Hoffman firm.
LEGAL NEWS PHOTO BY CYNTHIA PRICE
Solo attorney Schepers adds value to Wrigley, Hoffman and Hendricks
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
Attorney Jim Schepers has a solo practice, focusing on estate planning and trust administration, that operates like an island in the midst of small firm Wrigley, Hoffman and Hendricks.
The advantages go both ways. Says Schepers, who started his solo firm in Kentwood in 2000, “Ben [Wrigley] and Tom [Hoffman] and I have known each other for years, and we started saying we ought to do something together because our practices fit together well. Since I was happily in the suburbs, it worked out for me to locate within their offices here.” His move to their space off of 28th St. took place a little less than six months ago.
Said Bob Hendricks, who just joined the firm at the beginning of 2014, “Both Ben and I did estate planning early on in our careers, but it has changed a great deal and requires more of a specialization. I don’t have enough time to devote to it, so it’s good to be able to refer clients to Jim.”
Adds Wrigley, “When Tom and I opened our practice in 1994, we let our clients know it would be different from when we were at the large firm. But now we are a lot broader because there are three of us plus Jim. We offer a lot of services that many solo firms can’t.”
All three partners in Wrigley, Hoffman and Hendricks worked together at Varnum from the time that Varnum, Riddering, Wierengo and Christenson joined with Schmidt, Howlett, Vant’ Hof, Snell, and Vana in 1983 until the mid-1990s.
Wrigley predated the two firms’ merger, working at Schmidt Howlett since 1970, immediately after getting his J.D. from Northwestern University.
Though Wrigley’s practice includes construction law, business/corporate, wealth advisory, family law and litigation, but he really focuses in on all aspects of real estate. “When I started at Schmidt Howlett, there were only eight lawyers,” he says. “Over the years, as it grew to 30, I developed a specialty in real estate —all kind of real estate, whatever it is, buying, selling, developing, international transactions, I was involved in it all.”
He was the head of the real estate practice group at Varnum when he left to form the firm with Tom Hoffman.
Hoffman, who went to Kalamazoo College and?University of Michigan Law School, is a trial lawyer with extensive experience in real estate and construction law. In practice since 1980, he represents contractors, homeowners, companies, lending institutions, among others. He also serves as a mediator and arbitrator for his clients.
The most recent addition to the partnership, Bob Hendricks clerked at Schmidt and Howlett the year before the merger and continued to work at Varnum until becoming an in-house attorney for Universal Forest Products.
Interestingly, Hendricks says his commitment to becoming a lawyer came when he spent time waiting tables after his college career, which started out at Aquinas College and wrapped up with a B.A. in Philosophy from Grand Valley State University.
“One night I waited on Wally Knack [the well-known attorney from Warner Norcross and Judd]. We just hit it off, so at the end of the night he gave me his card,” Hendricks explains. I wound up being a messenger at Warner Norcross and it was a wonderful experience. I made friends with people I still know. I liked it enough to say, I could do this, so I decided to go to Wayne State.”
At Varnum, Hendricks developed expertise in bankruptcy, gaining familiarity with both bankruptcy and Uniform Commercial Code law. “That served me fabulously as an in-house lawyer, and now,” he says.
Because he spent his last six years at Universal Forest Products as Vice President of Human Resources, Hendricks helps his business clients out with HR issues, but also works on general business, commercial, and real estate.
So Schepers brings a focus that was lacking, one that dovetails nicely with the firm’s existing expertise.
“I cover a whole range of clients from young couples with kids to people with high net worth. There’s increased specialization in estate planning law —sometimes you need several people just to deal with that level of complexity, and then there are lots of other situations where it doesn’t matter,” he says.
“One thing that comes from my years of experience is that I’m good at issue spotting,” Schepers adds.
“The nature of how we work with Jim is based on the relationships between the four lawyers,” Wrigley explains. “That’s the extent of the relationship between the two firms, really.”
And all four attorneys agree that success in law practice is all about relationships, primarily with clients.
“When Tom and I left Varnum, essentially every client we had came with us,” Wrigley said. “For the most part, clients develop a relationship with individual lawyers.
“I remember after the 30-day waiting period, I called one of our larger clients and told him we were leaving Varnum and moving to the third floor of the Ledyard Building, and reducing our hourly rate. He asked if we could move to the basement and lower it even more,” he adds, laughing.
Schepers had the same experience after 11 years at Tolley Fisher and Verwys. “As I saw the firm starting to fall apart, I thought, ‘I can do this myself and have a lot more fun.’ Of course I was a bit nervous, but all my clients followed me. I was buried from the first day that I opened my office.”
Comments Hendricks, “What Ben said about clients is certainly true. It doesn’t bother them if you have to farm out some of the work, and it’s not that different from what you do at a big law firm when bring in your associate. As Ben said, it’s a personal relationship.”
Wrigley says he misses many aspects of the large law firm. “I really missed Varnum’s technology; they were on the cutting edge. And at a larger firm, they have the ability to bounce things off each other. We don’t always have that luxury.”
Schepers, Wrigley, and Hendricks all appreciate having been able to start out at firms that supplied them with mentors. “There really is an art to learning how to practice law,” Schepers says, “and I had great older partners to teach me that.”
Adds Wrigley, “For 24 years, I had had great mentors. I was able to practice with terrific people, have a diverse exposure to the law and learn from many lawyers. So when Tom and I left, we had a breadth of background that made starting out much easier.”
And Wrigley, Hoffman and Hendricks is not done growing yet.
“We anticipate expanding,” Wrigley says, and explains that Bob will be heading up a practice that explores new frontiers: marijuana law.”
“A couple years ago I was listening to an NPR story about the Colorado,” Hendricks explains. “I know a fair amount about banking transactions and law. So I began to look into it and said to Ben and Tom that I thought there was going to be a market for business lawyers who can help people figure this out. So we’re developing a practice to assist people who need advice and counsel on the lay of the land, what’s legal and what can happen, what the opportunities are.”
The firm anticipates opening Cannalex Law in the near future.
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