Overview

The business cycle's peaks and valleys can be expected, but not always predicted. Swift change can throw even the most intrepid entrepreneur off balance.

As economic change opens new opportunities for innovators in both traditional and emerging industries, Bodman is standing strong. We use our strength to help clients uncover and leverage the positives. Operate in new markets. Find new sources of financing. Protect Assets. Increase efficiency. Rethink conventional practices.

We believe there's only one way to master change: adapt to it, creatively.

Our History

Bodman began its success story with attorneys who played key roles in one of history’s greatest achievements - the birth of the automotive industry.

After working alongside automotive legend Henry Ford while on the Ford Motor Company legal staff, Wallace R. Middleton and Clifford B. Longley founded their own firm, quickly building a reputation for leadership, integrity and quality.

Henry E. Bodman, general counsel to the Packard Motor Car Company, joined the firm in its early years, and Louis F. Dahling added his expertise and his name to the office door in the early 1940s. Over the years, the firm grew and prospered, branching out into a variety of disciplines.

Our Philosophy

Bodman clients demand the best. We, in turn, are laser-focused on providing the highest quality legal services to clients across Michigan, across the United States, and around the world.

Our clients are businesses, individuals, and institutions with big ideas and big achievements. For more than 80 years, they have trusted us to serve as a strategic business partner. In exchange, we offer them the insight, experience and value they need to succeed.

We value long-term client relationships above short-term gain, and we nurture those relationships carefully. We work to understand our clients' businesses and the markets within which they operate. This enables us to provide both strategic advice and preventative counsel to address potential issues efficiently and discreetly before they become significant and expensive problems. We deliver on our promises with quality, integrity, and knowledge.

The power of our approach is clear in the extraordinarily long-term relationships we have. For example, we have represented the interests of the Ford family continuously since 1927. We have represented Comerica Incorporated and its predecessor, Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit, since we helped found Manufacturers in 1933.

Bodman Today

With more than 140 attorneys in offices in Detroit, Troy, Ann Arbor, and Cheboygan, Bodman attorneys provide expert counsel to some of the state’s most successful companies and wealthiest individuals on a broad range of issues.

Deeply rooted in the communities we serve, Bodman lawyers provide clients with the personal attention of a small firm combined with the talent and expertise expected of the nation’s leading attorneys.

Respected law directories rank Bodman as a leader in key practice areas including Chambers USA, which gives Bodman its highest possible ranking in Banking and Financial Services. The readers of Corporate Board Member have listed us among Detroit’s “Top Five” firms. The peer journal, The Best Lawyers in America, has recognized Bodman attorneys for excellence in their fields. Benchmark Litigation gives Bodman its highest possible ranking for commercial litigation.

We have delivered results for more than 80 years, becoming an invaluable asset to our clients and communities.