By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
For an attorney who has made a positive impact on various Detroit area nonprofits, Geaneen Arends figures to do the same and more in her new leadership role at Butzel Long, a law firm that traces its roots to the 1850s.
In March, some 167 years after the firm was founded, Arends became the first person of color to be elected by the shareholders of the firm to the board of directors at Butzel Long, joining the seven-member leadership ranks headed by Chairman Richard Rassel and President and CEO Justin Klimko.
In all respects, her appointment can be viewed as a watershed moment for the firm, which over the past decade has deepened its commitment to diversity and inclusion efforts internally and across the legal profession. And, not surprisingly, Arends has been at the forefront of that movement at Butzel Long, serving as chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
“It's an honor to be part of the board of directors at Butzel Long, and I view it as another important step for people of color in the Detroit legal community,” said Arends, who grew up in Southfield and graduated with a degree in history from Michigan State University. “Hopefully, in the years ahead this will become the norm and not the exception when it comes to the look of law firms in Detroit and across the state.”
Arends, who earned her law degree from Boston College in 1998, joined Butzel in 2012 after spending the initial stages of her legal career with Barris Sott Denn & Driker and then Clark Hill in Detroit. Her first job out of law school was with a Boston bank, but she returned to the Detroit area shortly thereafter to be with her mother, who was experiencing serious complications of eye disease.
A chance meeting with then U.S. Attorney Saul Green led to an interview with prominent Detroit attorney Eugene Driker, who hired Arends to be an associate in Barris Sott’s real estate group. It was there that she made an early favorable impression on one of the founding partners, Donald Barris, who “complimented me on a research memo I wrote for him,” leading Arends to an added benefit.
“He took the time to talk with me about why I returned to Detroit from Boston,” Arends related. “When I explained about my mother’s health situation, he got on the phone with a doctor who was the son of one of his clients and arranged an appointment for my mom, which eventually led to a cure for her vision problem. It was an amazing sequence of events that he put in motion. I will always be grateful for what he did for me and my mother. He was a giver. He was an excellent attorney and was always personally invested in my growth and success.”
Arends, in turn, has made a point during her career to “pay it forward,” lending her time and talents to a variety of worthwhile community causes, including the Detroit Historical Society, Detroit Public Television, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots Celebration.
In addition, her commitment to pro bono services is well known in the legal community. She served for 12 years on the board of directors and is a past board chair of Michigan Community Resources, which provides pro bono legal services to nonprofits in underserved communities across Michigan. In recognition of those efforts, Arends has been honored as a winner of Butzel Long’s coveted “Dudley Do-Right” award for pro bono service.
She also takes pride in her role as a mentor to young attorneys at Butzel, including Shanika Owens, an associate in the firm’s Detroit office who focuses her practice on corporate, business, and real estate law.
“Geaneen is a wonderful mentor,” said Owens, a Wayne State Law grad who was the recipient of the coveted Damon J. Keith Scholarship. “She has not only set a clear example of excellence in practicing law, but she has provided support beyond mentorship that I am grateful for.
“Geaneen is vested in our relationship,” Owens indicated. “She answers the phone whenever I call. She calls randomly to check on me. As a new mom, especially during this COVID-era, balancing motherhood and work has been challenging. Geaneen has provided resources and gone out of her way to assist me. She has given me assignments, offering feeding tips and baby hacks, and randomly mailed me a big, fluffy robe during an unexpected hospital stay when I was pregnant.”
Such genuineness is a trademark of Arends, according to Owens.
“Before giving out an assignment, or making a request, she asks how I am doing, not as a conversation starter; she truly wants to know how you are feeling,” said Owens. “Geaneen happens to offer all of this love and support even as she juggles being a practice department chair, a Butzel board member, a successful partner, a mom of lovely twin girls, and a host of other responsibilities. I value and appreciate Geaneen’s support, leadership, and friendship. I consider her family.”
In terms of her own family, Arends is the younger daughter of Minie and Gene Washington, both of whom are retired GM employees, and has an older sister, Sandra Hayden, who is a professor of radiation therapy at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“They have been my lifelong role models and instilled in me the value of hard work,” Arends said of her parents, who will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary this summer. “My mom spent 30 years with GM, earning a ‘Perfect Attendance Award,’ while my dad worked there 37 years, which is really remarkable considering how unusual it is nowadays to spend that much time with one company.”
In retirement, her father has taken on the unofficial role as the “steward” of goodwill in their Southfield neighborhood, according to Arends.
“Recently, my dad answered a knock on the door from one of his neighbors whose wife was in labor and needed a ride to the hospital,” Arends explained, noting that the husband was unable to drive because of his strict observance of the sabbath as an Orthodox Jew. “So, my dad stepped in, rushing her to the hospital, where the baby was born within 15 minutes of their arrival. He was pretty excited to be part of that experience.”
Arends has enjoyed her own set of life experiences as the mother of twin 12-year-old daughters, Amanda and Alanna.
“They are great girls and have adjusted well to the challenge of being students in this COVID time of ours,” said Arends. “For the past year, we have all been in our separate rooms, doing the Zoom thing all day long. It hasn't been easy, but we’re making the best of a difficult situation, learning to adjust to the realities of COVID.”
In short, it’s a personal and professional juggling act for Arends, who serves as chair of Butzel Long’s Corporate and Real Estate Practice Departments, a role she began last fall. All that is in addition to her own caseload in mergers and acquisitions, business formation, general business matters, and commercial real estate transactions.
“Busy is good” could well serve as her mantra, especially since she embraces a commitment to pro bono work and community service.
“Sometimes I have trouble saying ‘no,’ particularly when it’s a cause I believe in and want to help in any way that I can,” she said.
With a lifelong love of history, Arends is particularly well-suited for her volunteer work as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Detroit Historical Society, a nonprofit that oversees the Detroit Historical Museum and Dossin Great Lakes Museum.
“We are so fortunate to have Geaneen serving as 1st Vice Chair and Governance Committee Chair of the Detroit Historical Society’s Board of Trustees,” said Elana Rugh, president and CEO of the Detroit Historical Society. “The Historical Society celebrates our centennial this year, and it is a time of great change for our organization. Geaneen is playing a key role in helping us move ahead in our work to create the Historical Society for the next 100 years.
She is the best kind of trustee – thoroughly engaged, thoughtful, and truly devoted to our mission to tell Detroit’s stories and why they matter.”
Arends also serves as a trustee of Detroit Public Television, the local PBS station in Southeastern Michigan. Her involvement there was encouraged by Butzel Chairman Richard Rassel, who has long been a champion of Detroit Public Television.
Rich Homberg, president and CEO of DPTV, is ever-ready to sing the praises of Arends.
“Geaneen is an outstanding board member and partner for Detroit Public TV,” said Homberg. “She understands the Detroit issues deeply, is extremely well-connected to our community, and pushes us to be our very best.
“Like any great board member, Geaneen is both an incredible outside advocate for the station to the community, while always driving us to continuously improve internally. Geaneen is wonderful.”
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