Honigman's Grand Rapids growth continues

Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP announced Tuesday that IP partners Tim Flory and Peter Cummings will join its expanding Grand Rapids office. Their arrival comes as the firm doubles its Grand Rapids office space to take up most of the fourth floor of its current building, the recently renovated 300 Ottawa Avenue Building.

 Tim Flory is a patent attorney focusing on the procurement of mechanical, electro-mechanical, process, and design patents with a particular emphasis on the automotive industry. He will be joined in the Grand Rapids office by his colleague Peter Cummings, also a patent attorney focusing on preparing and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications in a diverse array of fields, including automotive control systems, vehicle interior and body components, and consumer electronics.

 Since opening its doors last January, the office has grown to 17 legal professionals and five staff members. Flory and Cummings will also be joined in Grand Rapids by associate Chris DeLucenay, along with Honigman attorneys Jordan Schwartz and Andrew Schmid, who will be relocating from the firm’s Detroit and Bloomfield Hills offices, respectively.

 “2017 has been a career high for me, due to the incredible pace at which we have grown and the caliber of attorneys who have joined the office, many of whom began their careers at large money-center firms,” said Tracy Larsen, Honigman’s Grand Rapids Managing Partner, who enjoys one of the most active merger and acquisition practices in the Midwest and is co-head of the firm’s national M&A practice. “Not only has the office grown significantly in just one year, but we have attracted a significant number of prominent regional and national M&A mandates during the year, involving aggregate trade value of more than $2 billion,” Larsen added.

 Along with the office’s robust M&A offering, its intellectual property practice has also achieved substantial growth. Expanding this group has been a strategic focus for the firm due to the booming technology sector in the region. The firm’s new, larger office will have eight resident IP professionals in Grand Rapids and 34 IP professionals in the greater West Michigan region. Honigman attorneys based in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo have a wealth of experience representing major global consumer brands and technology companies in IP matters.

 “We have been gratified and humbled by the client reception we have received in Grand Rapids, as we are by the quality and depth of those attorneys who have joined us to date,” said David Foltyn, Chairman and CEO of Honigman. “Our growth strategy is working and it is quite eloquent in its simplicity: to constantly strive to provide the highest quality legal work and maximize value to each client.”