Effective Advocates • Trusted Counselors

Celebrating 140 Years of Legal Service

in Grand Rapids

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Wheeler Upham has been providing effective, efficient legal counsel for over 139 years. Our attorneys have backgrounds and expertise in virtually every area of the law, enabling us to continue a strong tradition of providing our clients the advantages of a full-service law firm.
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Our attorneys are leaders in the courtroom, boardroom, classroom, community and profession. Two of our founding attorneys served as federal judges, and several others have held seats on the local bench. Seven Wheeler Upham attorneys have served as President of the Grand Rapids Bar Association. One of our colleagues was elected President of the State Bar of Michigan.
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Based in downtown Grand Rapids, our offices are adjacent to the Kent County and City Hall buildings. We are conveniently located just steps from the county, state and federal courthouses.Read More

Our lawyers have expertise ranging from business and corporate law to estate planning and administration, from employment law to product liability defense, from personal injury to creditor’s rights. We have experts in the Postal Service, real estate law, insurance law, alternative dispute resolution and mediation, tax exempt and non-profit organizations, ecclesiastical law, litigation, and family law, and we can provide local counsel for out-of-town attorneys.
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Ms. Kennedy practices primarily in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, state licensing matters, employment law, and selected family law matters. She has extensive litigation experience and has appeared before state trial courts, the Michigan Court of Claims, the United States District Courts (Eastern and Western divisions) and the Michigan Board of Professional Licensing. Ms. Kennedy has been a member of the State Bar of Michigan since the formation of the Legal Assistant Section in 1986 and was admitted to the Bar in 1995. She is active in professional and community organizations, including leadership positions in the American Legion Auxiliary.

Ms. Kennedy has over 26 years of experience in the legal profession as counsel in a wide variety of civil, regulatory, licensing, dispute resolution, and family law matters. She enjoys the unique advantage of having acquired a comprehensive perspective on effective litigation handling, gained from several years as a legal secretary and paralegal in litigation practices. She is a hands-on, results-oriented attorney committed to excellent and effective representation. She achieved two undergraduate degrees and her law degree, all with academic honors, while attending night school and working full time in the legal profession.

Prior to joining Wheeler Upham, Ms. Kennedy worked for the City of Detroit Law Department defending civil litigation matters and continued her litigation career at firms in Detroit, Okemos, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has instructed students in the legal secretary and paralegal fields and acted as a substitute teacher in the Lansing Community College paralegal program. She has participated in numerous presentations and webinars on medical malpractice, risk management, public and private healthcare liens, and peer review.

Ms. Kennedy has co-published articles for Medscape, the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel Quarterly, and the Michigan Dental Association Journal, and she acted as a guest editor of the Michigan Bar Journal’s first Legal Assistants theme issue.