We’ve built our lives and our business around having the experience and dedication you need to command and simplify legal complexities. Our focus is on you and promptly navigating and resolving your business or real estate transactions and litigation. Over 20 attorneys comprise our firm’s legal counsel spanning seven practices areas:
A well-run business can bring many successes for executives and entrepreneurs. It’s also the nature of business to be challenging and even rocky at times. At McShane & Bowie, we get your tough deals done. Regardless of how complex a business matter may be, our lawyers have a singular focus—understanding your goals and guiding you through the best solution.
You can rely on our dynamic business law team to be actively engaged with you, throughout the entire business life cycle: entity selection and formation, operations and growth, succession planning and exit strategies.
Regardless of your business industry, we can represent you in the issues of business counseling, start-up, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, the purchase and sale of businesses, shareholder agreements, buy and sell agreements and nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations. Some of our current client industries include agriculture, automotive, banking, health care, manufacturing, real estate, technology and transportation.
Family law includes a range of marital and domestic relations issues, many of which can be resolved through negotiation and settlement, while others require aggressive courtroom litigation. Each case is different, but our expertise and legal knowledge are constants.
Unfortunately, marriages can and do break down. When reconciliation is futile, however, we step in to protect and enforce clients’ rights and address the needs of their families.
On any given day, we counsel clients on:
As certified family law mediators, our attorneys employ negotiation and dispute resolution processes to seek an amicable resolution of their divorce but if acrimony replaces accord and the parties cannot reach an agreement, we are experienced in the courtroom, and well prepared for litigation in order to obtain the best possible outcome for our client.
The assets obtained during a marriage are critically examined in a divorce action. A divorce can impact:
Occasionally, there are hidden, premarital, gifted, or inherited assets to be considered. Any depletion of assets is investigated. We review whether it is appropriate to impute income to a spouse, or whether a spouse receives significant financial benefits that do not appear on a tax return. We have extensive experience in locating, valuing, and protecting clients’ interests, and when necessary we collaborate with and seek advice from CPAs, valuation experts, forensic accountants, financial advisors, and wealth managers. Our McShane & Bowie colleagues are also available to assist with any tax, estate planning, real estate, and corporate issues that may arise.
We counsel men and women in traditional and non-traditional marriages even before they exchange vows. Even the most loving and trusting individuals want to protect their property, and we prepare prenuptial agreements that clearly identify assets and ownership interests.
Premarital agreements can be particularly important when one or both spouses:
Our family law attorneys are among the most admired and recognized lawyers in Michigan, with a long list of honors, awards, and accolades. We are recognized leaders in our field who frequently write and speak on divorce-related topics and trends. Lawyers and judges not only trust our skills and talents enough to refer their clients and friends to us, they also call on us to serve as mediators to facilitate results in the family law matters in which they are involved.
Employers in Michigan and throughout the United States regularly encounter complex issues dealing with employees and unions. Because an enterprise’s success heavily depends on its workforce, proactively managing labor and employment issues is critical. The labor and employment practice at McShane & Bowie is proactive, with an emphasis on avoiding problems, limiting risk, and minimizing problems when they occur, but also vigorously defending litigation, administrative claims, and arbitrations when they occur.
We proactively and practically advise clients on all stages of the life cycle of the employment relationship, including:
When employer-employee and employer-union disagreements arise, we vigorously defend our clients’ interests, seeking to obtain the best possible outcomes. Our attorneys have successfully defended hundreds of lawsuits and charges brought by employees in federal and state courts in Michigan and elsewhere, including collective and class action litigation. Our track record is equally impressive before administrative agencies and tribunals such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, and their state counterparts. We have enjoyed great success in defending employers in arbitration. Our attorneys have routinely handled litigation, administrative matters or arbitrations as applicable, involving:
Our experience includes thoughtfully advising employers concerning:
Our lawyers develop and implement estate plans that protect your assets. We provide comprehensive planning services for the full scope of estates—traditional, non-traditional, vast or modest—focusing on your financial, business and personal goals.
We represent clients with varied income levels, estate sizes and professions including national and international business owners, physicians, farmers and retirees. Our services also extend to your family members, when needed.
Every business dispute is different, involving distinct facts, personalities, and objectives. What doesn’t change from case to case, however, is the need for deft handling, proven advocacy skills, and a razor-sharp focus on achieving the desired result – the very strengths that clients have come to expect from the attorneys at McShane & Bowie.
Whether bringing or defending a lawsuit, we help you determine an appropriate goal and then craft a litigation strategy to effectuate that outcome. Some disagreements warrant discretion and pre-suit negotiation, while others demand aggressive, toe-to-toe combat in the courtroom. We counsel clients on how to position each and pursue their vital interests, and then become their champion in the litigation arena.
Our attorneys represent clients across a wide range of industries, with an impressive record in a variety of issues, state and federal courts, and administrative forums.
In addition to civil matters, we also defend individuals and companies in tax and white-collar criminal actions, and we represent trustees, personal representatives, beneficiaries, and creditors in probate and trust disputes.
Whether a legal dispute is merely a nuisance or has bet-the-company consequences, the attorneys at McShane & Bowie have the necessary skills, experience, and temperament to successfully represent you in and out of court. Regardless of the issues, do what our valued clients do – make us your first phone call.
With over 60 years of expertise in commercial real estate law, we bring you extensive value through our considerable specialized knowledge and efficiency in this time-sensitive legal area. From planning to closing, our real estate law attorneys will provide you with prompt and pragmatic legal advice and business counsel.
Our full-service counsel in real estate transactions and disputes secures you with representation in the acquisition, financing, leasing, management and sale of various commercial real estate property types: office and industrial buildings, apartments, condominiums and site condominiums, residential developments, shopping centers, bank branches, hotels, churches, schools, medical research sites and senior living facilities.
Our clients include local and national developers and real estate investors, contractors, financial institutions, life insurance companies, property managers, retailers, tax-exempt organizations and religious organizations.
