Warner Norcross + Judd LLP

Our core services include:

•Multi-generational estate planning through gifts, sales, leveraged fractional interest transfers and the creation of customized entities and trusts

•Tax strategy and controversy counseling, including help with income, gift, estate and GST tax strategy, return filing, audit response and litigation, and opportunity zone investing 

•Family Office creation and administration

•Family governance structure, including assistance with family meetings and education

•Private bank, private trust and lending arrangements, intra-family loans, private annuities, credit transactions and fiduciary service platforms

•Private foundation, tax-exempt organization and charitable planning help with creation, governance, asset management, grant making and other planned giving techniques

•Asset protection and risk management counseling on protective structures, insurance coverage and coordination, risk management, claims evaluation and litigation

•Business succession planning for multi-generational transitions of closely-held businesses and assisting with governance, buy-sell agreements and choice of entity and control decisions

•HR, employee benefits and executive compensation counseling on unique retirement plans, health-care and wellness programs, compensation arrangements, labor relations, confidentiality agreements and workplace policies

•Private equity and corporate law counseling on the structure of investment partnerships and LLCs, hedge funds, investment opportunities and related tax ramifications

•Litigation, dispute resolution and family law counseling on employment issues, contract and family disputes, prenuptial agreements, divorce and custody arrangements, trust contests and fiduciary disputes

•M&A and securities counseling for private securities offerings, deals and related due diligence, broker-dealer and investment adviser regulations and related registration and exemption analysis

•Real estate and environmental services, from acquisitions, development, environmental and construction matters to leasing, sales and management

•Handling other legal matters pertaining to intellectual property, records retention, litigation avoidance, visas, yachts and aircraft, software agreements and confidential investigations

We seek to be recognized as the preeminent law firm in the state of Michigan by creating practical, cutting-edge, legal solutions that advance the best interests of clients.

Our informal firm motto is "Fun, Pride and Profit!" because we enjoy working with each other and our clients, take pride in the services we provide to our clients, and believe that if we serve our clients well, both we and our clients will prosper. 

We carry out this mission by getting to know our clients on a personal level and learning the specifics of their businesses and families so we can understand and anticipate their goals and the dynamics that shape their daily decisions. 

We value service to our clients and our communities. Going the extra mile is part of our culture. We also value family, diversity, discretion, respect, dedication, expertise, teamwork and listening. 

As a full-service law firm, we are able to provide a "one firm" solution for our clients, utilizing our deep talent pool to seamlessly deliver customized services across all of our clients' personal and professional needs. Understanding that each family and family office has unique needs, we carefully select a client manager who will provide the best counsel and the greatest possible value for the client.

The client manager then builds a client's personal team by matching the client's specific needs with the expertise of individual attorneys in those areas of law, creating a team which effectively delivers all of the client's legal services in an efficient and coordinated manner.

Our ideal clients are family offices, and high net worth individuals and families with legacy and wealth transfer goals. We also serve their family enterprises, family foundations and private family trust companies.

Our Private Client and Family Office practice serves family office clients ranging in size from organizations with little or no full-time staff to complex and multi-faceted organizations with a large number of employees and overseeing billions of dollars of net worth.

The families our Private Client and Family Office practice serve have assets ranging from $25 million dollars to several billion dollars. These families often seek assistance with legal needs related to running or transferring a multi-million dollar family business, creating wealth transfer plans, managing a single family office or a private trust company, preparing their next generation to manage wealth, or running a private foundation. We enjoy the challenge of creating individualized teams to serve each client’s needs across a variety of legal specialties.  

Although each family and family office has different legal needs, our ideal clients often:

• Do not want just “tax planning”—they want thoughtful, customized plans tailored to the many specific needs of their family.
• Think multi-generationally about preserving their wealth.
• Seek effective intra-family communication and coordination.
• Endeavor to grow all forms of the family’s financial, human, intellectual and social capital.
• Invest wealth in family or closely-held businesses, private equity and alternative/impact investments.
• Practice philanthropy.
• Protect their privacy zealously.

 To assist our clients in meeting all of their goals, our client teams are designed with these ideas in mind.

1. As one of the first firms in the region to create a practice dedicated to family offices and the families they serve, we have decades of experience supporting high net worth families and all types of family offices - single family, multi-family, embedded and virtual. Our attorneys have formed and worked in family offices, and we have the experience to support family enterprises, family philanthropy, family education and any other needs our clients bring to us. 

2. We think about family offices and their families differently which allows us to offer a different client experience. Our attorneys approach each office and family with a holistic view. We recognize that a family’s goals go beyond growing financial capital and include objectives such as protecting and preserving a legacy, protecting and growing great family members, creating and implementing effective family governance, and successfully continuing the family business into the next generation. To do that we learn about the family's strengths, goals, hopes, needs and fears and connect with each family member on a personal level to ensure that all generations are appropriately engaged to help families create and meet their multi-generational wealth and family harmony objectives.   

3. Unlike most other law firms, our internal culture supports our mission. Our attorneys are compensated based on a lockstep compensation model in which tenure with the firm and total contribution to the firm are the basis for determining pay. This system fosters collaboration on client matters, reduces internal competition, and discourages hoarding work and client relationships. So instead of competing against each other for billable hours and credit for work and relationships, our attorneys work together across practice areas, putting all their drive and energy into serving the needs and best interests of our clients. 

We pride ourselves on our responsiveness when using traditional communication methods such as telephone calls, e-mails, in-person and virtual meetings, newsletters, blogs, e-Alerts and website posts. Our attorneys participate in podcasts, webinars, seminars and speaking engagements, and write blog posts, articles and whitepapers on topics of interest to our clients. We also understand the ever-changing nature of electronic communication, and we stay on top of new developments because they help us better serve our clients. We leverage technology in several ways.

• Our extranets provide secured, tailored, private sites designed to share confidential information with our clients. These provide a wealth of information to clients on a 24-7 basis including key documents, company information, status reports, standard forms, message boards and other relevant communications.
• Video technology eliminates geographic challenges and facilitates efficiencies in meeting with clients. 
• Personal incoming and outgoing fax capabilities are on the computer of each attorney in the law firm; this allows us to maintain the highest level of client confidentiality, ensure rapid delivery and make your communications available to our attorneys anywhere they have their laptops or smart phones.
• Many of our clients receive electronic invoices via standard LEDES format or unique, nonstandard formats that make the most efficient use of their time and meet their accounting requirements.

As a firm: We regularly host webinars and panel discussions on topics of interest to our clients, and our attorneys participate in podcasts, seminars and speaking engagements to educate our clients. Our attorneys publish regularly on topics of interest to our clients. 

As a Private Client and Family Office practice: For families looking to prepare their next generations for participation in wealth management or the family business, we offer a wealth education program (tailored to the family's age groups) which provides families with engaging and sometimes collaborative activities that provide the needed skills in areas including finance, investing, philanthropy, family governance, taxes and trusts.

We publish our Legacy Matters blog which discusses topics of interest to high net worth families and family offices. We bring in speakers, host webinars and participate in webinars and podcasts. We also frequently speak at and regularly attend Family Office Exchange events.