Dykema elects Leonard C. Wolfe as chairman and chief executive officer

Leonard C. Wolfe will become chairman and chief executive officer of Dykema for a three-year term commencing Jan. 1, 2021. He succeeds Peter M. Kellett, who has served as chairman and chief executive officer since 2012. Although Wolfe will work from each of Dykema’s 13 offices, he will move his principal office from Lansing to Chicago. The firm’s offices include those in Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids.

For more than 25 years, Wolfe has practiced government policy and regulatory law. He first joined Dykema as a summer associate before quickly ascending into leadership roles. For the last six years, he has served as a twice-elected member of Dykema’s Executive Board, acting as board Liaison to the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the past four years.

Prior to his board membership, Wolfe was Director of Dykema’s Regulated Industries Department and Leader of the Government Policy and Practice Group for nine years. His various leadership positions provided Wolfe with extensive knowledge of Dykema’s business operations and the complex process of running the daily operations of a multi-office law firm with a national footprint.

 Wolfe’s practice has covered several areas of law, including education, gaming, state procurement, government restructuring and the creation and development of new local and state governmental bodies.

He is known nationally for his work with charter schools and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® each year since 2007—including being named “Lawyer of the Year” in Lansing for Gaming Law in 2019.

Wolfe earned a J.D. from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law and a B.A. from the James Madison College at Michigan State University.

Before joining Dykema, he worked in the Michigan Legislature, U.S. Senate and the Michigan Governor’s office.