Effective Advocates • Trusted Counselors

Celebrating 140 Years of Legal Service

in Grand Rapids

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Wheeler Upham Lobby and Front Desk

Personalized Service

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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Offices

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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Locally based in West Michigan

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

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Wheeler Upham is a full service law firm

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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Barbara J Kennedy

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.

Jeffrey D. DenBraber

Mr. DenBraber practices primarily in the areas of personal injury defense litigation and insurance coverage defense litigation. His work includes defending both third-party and first-party motor vehicle cases, premises liability cases, dog bite cases, and other personal injury matters. He also handles commercial and real estate ligation for businesses and individuals, including cases involving breach of contract claims, transactional disputes, commercial and residential leases, and easements and other land rights.

Mr. DenBraber has co-authored, with fellow Wheeler Upham attorney Daniel J. James, a featured article in The Journal of Insurance & Indemnity Law (a publication of the Michigan Bar Association) titled “Underinsured Motor Vehicles and Setoffs for Tortfeasor Coverage” (page 11, Volume 11, No. 2, April 2018.)

Gary A. Maximiuk

Mr. Maximiuk practices principally in the areas of personal injury defense litigation and insurance coverage litigation. He is a frequent lecturer for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education on topics including trial and deposition skills. He is the co-editor of and a contributing author to A Practical Guide to Depositions in Michigan (2015 edition) and a contributing author to Michigan Insurance Law and Practice (ICLE, 2012 edition).

Mr. Maximiuk is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and is included in The Best Lawyers in America in the fields of insurance coverage and product liability defense.

 

Glenn L. Smith

Mr. Smith is a shareholder and president of Wheeler Upham, P.C. He practices primarily in the areas of employment law, civil litigation, postal contracts, business law, contracts, construction law, federal government contracts, and postal law. He has extensive litigation experience in these areas and has appeared before federal district courts, courts of appeal, bankruptcy courts, boards of contract appeal, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit System Protection Board, and state courts and administrative agencies.

Mr. Smith has successfully assisted clients with document drafting, discrimination claims, disability and Family Medical Leave Act compliance issues, federal disability retirement claims, federal workers’ compensation or OWCP claims, employee handbook questions, and postal contract disputes including holdover tenant claims. Mr. Smith’s litigation experience enables him to spot issues and propose solutions for his clients, thereby saving them time and money by avoiding and addressing legal issues before problems arise.

Each year since 2018, Mr. Smith has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in the category of Employment Law – Individual. He was the 2014 and 2016 chairman of the Grand Rapids Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section.

Prior to joining Wheeler Upham, Mr. Smith was in-house counsel with the U.S. Postal Service, where he handled some of its most complex litigation involving personal injury, construction claims, leasing issues, and contract disputes. He has unique expertise in federal sector employment law and represents employees of federal agencies in many forums. Mr. Smith handles litigation against the federal government that other attorneys shy away from, including claims arising under the various civil rights laws, the Federal Torts Claim Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Contract Disputes Act.

Mr. Smith has published articles in the Michigan Bar Journal on mail disputes and bankruptcy appeals.