Local office of Barnes and Thornburg moves in Grand Rapids to accommodate growth

By Sharon Hanks

While some law firms are downsizing due to the recession, Barnes and Thornburg LLP has moved to larger digs at the National City Bank Building in downtown Grand Rapids. The firm's lawyers and other legal professionals now occupy the ninth and tenth floors at 171 Monroe Ave. NW because it had outgrown its former offices at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW.

The Indianapolis-based firm that opened its Grand Rapids office in 2003 has now grown to 25 attorneys, 17 of whom are partners.

Tracy Larsen, the firm's managing partner here, attributes the success to the company's philosophy of recruiting recognized, well-established lawyers with specialized expertise instead of going after new attorneys fresh out of law school. He helped establish a local presence for the nationally known law firm after nearly a 20-year career with Warner Norcross & Judd in Grand Rapids.

"In this day and age of legal complexity, specialization matters greatly," says Larsen, who himself was named "Lawyer of the Year" in 2009 in the area of corporate law by Best Lawyers in America, a peer review publication for the legal profession. "The more specialized you are, the more quickly you can offer guidance to clients. We grew principally by targeting partners with substantial practices."

Local attorneys at Barnes and Thornburg spend about half of their time working for West Michigan companies, with the remaining time spent counseling clients nationally, Larsen says. With a total number of 550 legal professionals and more than 900 employees, the firm has enjoyed similar growth nationwide in recent years as one of the 100 largest law firms in the United States.

Last year, the Barnes and Thornburg hired 70 attorneys and legal professionals while opening new offices in Minnesota, Georgia, Ohio and Delaware, Larsen says. On top of this, the bottom line got bigger. The firm's gross revenues rose 13.6 percent in fiscal year 2009, Larsen says.

Larsen says consultants dubbed the growth the "coastal bounce" because Barnes and Thornburg offered clients the expertise from attorneys mostly in the Midwest at a cost far less than the "very significant fee structures" charged by large firms in New York and Los Angeles.

Source: Tracy Larsen, managing partner of Barnes and Thornburg LLP, Grand Rapids office.

Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.