Why Us—Fact Sheet

Founded in 1902, for more than 100 years, Foster Swift Collins & Smith has provided outstanding client service and legal excellence. Our firm delivers comprehensive services for businesses, organizations, municipalities, families and individuals across Michigan, the nation and beyond.

Foster Swift’s 100-plus attorneys across Michigan provide a results-minded attitude and across-the-board legal excellence. We credit our success and growth to the firm’s adherence to our Midwestern values of integrity, civility, hard work, camaraderie and commitment to our communities.  

Clients of all backgrounds, public and private, seek our help. For most, we establish long-term relationships that span generations. They appreciate our ability and experience in handling sophisticated transactions and corporate formations, difficult litigation and complex regulatory and municipal issues. 

Each of our practice groups is comprised of lawyers rated as the best by clients and peers, including:

• Business & Tax Law-Practice Group Leaders: Mindi Johnson and Nicholas Oertel
• Employer Services-Practice Group Leader: Brian Goodenough
• Finance, Real Estate & Bankruptcy Law-Practice Group Leader: Patricia Scott
• General & Commercial Litigation-Practice Group Leaders: Paul Millenbach and Andrew Vredenburg
• Health Care-Practice Group Leader: Jennifer Van Regenmorter
• Municipal and Public Entity Law-Practice Group Leader: Michael Homier 
• Trusts and Estates-Practice Group Leader: Douglas Mielock

Offices:

• Lansing (est. 1902)
• Southfield (est. Farmington Hills 1997-2016, moved to Southfield August 2016)
• Detroit (est. 2003)
• Grand Rapids (est. 2005)
• Holland (est. 2010)
• St. Joseph (est. 2016)

Recognitions:

• Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.  35 attorneys hold an AV^® Preeminent™ rating.
• Best Lawyers in America^©.  42 of our attorneys earned this designation for 2020. Additionally, Foster Swift was ranked in 49 of the 122 practice areas listed in the U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers 2019 Best Law Firms in America.
• Michigan Super Lawyers.  14 of our attorneys were recently selected for this recognition based on the survey conducted by Law & Politics magazine. We were also honored to have Michigan Super Lawyers name 9 of our young attorneys as "Rising Stars."
• Theodore Swift Civility Award.  In 2000, the Ingham County (Lansing) Bar Association established this annual recognition in honor of Ted Swift, one of the attorneys for whom our firm is named.  He was the award’s first recipient.  It honors local trial lawyers for “…manifesting civility in his or her relations with the Bench, Bar, clients, and the public, while adhering to and advancing the highest principles and traditions of the legal profession.”  Mike Sanders, former president of the firm, most recently received this award in 2018.

Executive Committee

Foster Swift attorneys and staff live by The Golden Rule: Treat others with respect and dignity. Our attorneys and staff are committed to living by these strong ethical standards, and our clients appreciate the way they are treated as much as they value our legal skills.

This commitment to top-quality service is the foundation of our mission: To provide comprehensive, result-oriented legal services to each and every client. And supports our firm’s core values:

• Integrity. Upholding the moral and ethical principles of law and society
• Professionalism. Treating people with respect, consideration and providing the highest level of client service
• Community. Taking an active role in advancing the quality of the area in which we work and live
• Communication. Creating mutual understanding

Foster Swift has a firm culture and heritage of giving back. Both our attorneys and staff work together to help the communities where we live and work.