Lee T. Silver

Scott Dienes is a real estate, municipal and finance attorney assisting clients with complex projects that define and shape communities. With a strong municipal and real estate background, along with tax-exempt bond and public finance experience, Scott keeps projects on track and on budget. Scott has served as general counsel to municipal clients his entire career. He acts on behalf of local governments, development authorities, school districts, water and sewer authorities, district librarie...

Tom’s practice includes design and implementation of sophisticated estate plans, active administration of trust accounts, settlement of decedent’s estates, estate taxation, and charitable gift planning. He advises many of Varnum's family business owners and is a member of our Family Business Team. Tom currently serves as the Firm's Executive Partner, one of our two Managing Partners. Previously, he served five years as the chair of the Firm's Estate Planning, Tax, and Employee Ben...

Nicholas S. Laue is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Construction. Nicholas S., who practices law in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Nicholas S. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jeff chairs Varnum's employee benefits practice group. He has 25 years of experience working with employers, executives and third-party administrators on a wide range of employee benefit, executive compensation and individual retirement matters, including plan design, plan administration, benefit plan disputes and tax planning for retirement. He also helps solve complex tax issues in business and investment transactions, especially those involving pass-through entities and oil and gas activit...

Nathan D. Plantinga has been practicing law since 1997 and is the chair of the firm's employment and labor section. He enjoys a busy counseling practice for union and nonunion clients, advising employers on the full spectrum of employment matters, including civil rights charges, difficult medical leave issues, employee discipline and discharge, wage and hour, and unemployment. Mr. Plantinga also specializes in traditional labor work involving collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, unfair ...

Rick is a member of Varnum's Labor and Employment Practice Group. He focuses on the defense of employers in workers’ compensation litigation, from managing contested cases in an aggressive and efficient manner to assessing cost-containment methods. He represents employers at all levels of the court system, including the Workers’ Compensation Appellate Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and Michigan Supreme Court. Rick has handled multiple Michigan Occupational Safety and Health...

David assists businesses and financial institutions in navigating complex commercial transactions. His experience is broad in scope from facilitating the transaction on the front end to providing solutions when problems arise. After gaining an understanding of the needs of our clients, he works collaboratively with them to plan the best route to achieve the desired outcome, whether that outcome requires an “all hands on deck” approach or, as is frequently the case, a simple solution.

Fredric N. Goldberg practices in the area of corporate and business law, with an emphasis in transactional practice, and in the area of college and university law. In addition, he has developed substantive expertise in the field of water law and the law of natural resources generally. He was recently recognized in the 2010 Best Lawyers publication for his water law expertise. Fred is a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. He received his bachelor's degree ...

Timothy J. Ryan is a Shareholder in the Grand Rapids, Michigan office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Mr. Ryan is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (J.D., magna cum laude ) and Aquinas College (B.A., magna cum laude). Mr. Ryan has practiced exclusively in the labor and employment area since 1987, when he was admitted to the Bar. He has obtained an “AV® Preeminent™” rating, which is the highest peer review rating from Martindale Hubbell. He has been selected by his peers f...

Denny Logan has extensive experience in business law and regularly advises businesses and municipalities on acquisitions, formations, governance, contracts, commercial real estate and other business matters. He also assists lenders in structuring and documenting complex commercial lending transactions. Denny is also the partner in charge of the firm’s estate planning and probate areas where the firm has an active practice in the drafting of wills, trusts, in probate administration, in r...