The Great Lakes Shipping Co. owner, attorney Bert Irwin, has joined the West Michigan-based law firm Plachta, Murphy & Associates (PMA).
Irwin has practiced law in Michigan since 1991. His areas of expertise at PMA will include business and corporate law, litigation and real estate law.
In addition to representing numerous business clients over the past 25 years, Irwin had co-owned and operated the popular and profitable southeast side Grand Rapids restaurant, The Great Lakes Shipping Co., serving as president and general manager, for 17 years.
“Bert has a unique skillset that few lawyers in the Grand Rapids area can offer,” Plachta Murphy & Associates Managing Partner Brian Plachta said. “He is an attorney who, as the owner of a successful long-time business, intimately understands the challenges and opportunities that business owners face, because he’s lived and practiced it.”
Irwin’s relationship with The Great Lakes Shipping Co. began in 1986 when he started working at the restaurant to put himself through Calvin College and, later, law school. After graduating from Wayne State University Law School, he worked as an insurance litigation attorney in the Detroit area.
He moved back to his hometown of Grand Rapids in the early 1990s. Here, he opened his own law firm. He also returned to part-time work at The Great Lakes Shipping Co., where he made lifelong friendships – and where he even met the woman who would become his wife.
“The Great Lakes Shipping Co. was and is family to me,” Irwin said. “It’s literally where my own family began. And it’s where I developed the mindset and knowledge base to truly understand and anticipate the legal and operational needs of my clients.”
He often found himself lending an ear and, if asked, offering advice to customers who sat on the stools at the bar at the restaurant.
“People joke about how bartenders are counselors – but that’s literally who I was and often what I did for customers who came into The Great Lakes Shipping Co.,” Irwin said, describing his time behind the bar and managing the restaurant that was a neighborhood favorite for nearly 50 years.
In 1999, he and others were offered the chance to buy the restaurant. “I remember telling my wife about the opportunity. It was a risk, but we did it and we never looked back. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’d do it all over again,” he said.
After nearly 50 years in business, the restaurant, which had employed 30 people and had annual sales of $2.5 million, closed in May as the Breton Village mall area makes way for new development. Irwin has not ruled out re-opening in a new location.
“Being in the restaurant business is in my blood,” Irwin said. “But being a lawyer and helping others with their legal needs is who I am and what I do. I couldn’t be more pleased to be part of the Plachta Murphy team.”
Irwin has volunteered and performed charitable work and fundraising with many local Catholic, Christian and public schools, including Immaculate Heart of Mary School, St. Paul the Apostle School, Catholic Central High School, Calvin College and East Grand Rapids High School. Irwin also has volunteered and served as board member for charities that support breast cancer and pancreatic cancer research.
He and his wife Denise, the parents of Madison and Jackson, live in Rockford.
“We’re very lucky to have Bert join our firm,” PMA Partner Miles Murphy said. “And it’s more than the legal experience that he brings to the table. He knows and relates to so many people here in Grand Rapids who at one time or another walked through the doors of the restaurant – not just for a great meal but also for the friendship, wisdom and counsel that Bert offered. That personal attention is exactly how we practice law at our firm.”
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