Varnum moves to new quarters in downtown Kalamazoo

Varnum plans to grow its presence in Kalamazoo and as result two new attorneys have recently joined the Kalamazoo office, which has moved from its previous Rose Street location to the historic Globe Building at 221 E. Water Street.

Attorneys and staff began working from the new suite of offices on the fourth floor starting Monday, July 17.

The four-story Globe building features high, open spaces and a retro atmosphere of exposed brick and beams. An inner stairwell with a striking view of office and loft balconies and wall-to- wall large windows allowing extensive natural light are some of the features of the new space.

The Globe Building is located in East End District of downtown, which features a mix of commercial and professional services, restaurants and entertainment venues. Arcadia Creek Festival Place is just west of the building.

“An office move is no small undertaking but we are thrilled with our new location,” says Kalamazoo Managing Partner Fred Schubkegel. “In addition to having a great visual appeal, the layout of the new suite is more conducive to a collaborative work environment. 

"Excellent client service is our foremost objective, and teamwork and collaboration are important elements of delivering that service," Schubkegel adds. "Another advantage of the new space from a client perspective is the convenient parking." 

Schubkegel says that while the new space includes less square footage than the former offices on Rose Street, there is opportunity to accommodate planned growth. Varnum’s Kalamazoo office currently has 12 attorneys and six administrative staff, all of whom have moved to the new location. 

“Our new offices actually feel larger due to the open layout with significantly less space devoted to hallways,” Schubkegel says. “Like most professional service businesses, legal work today relies more on virtual space than actual space,” Schubkegel noted. “We’d been in our previous location for 17 years, and it was no longer serving our needs.”

Varnum has had an office in Kalamazoo for 29 years, operating from the former Rose Street address since 2000. In line with plans to grow its presence in Kalamazoo, two new attorneys have recently joined the Kalamazoo office. Family law attorney Erika Salerno joined the firm last week and corporate attorney Elliott Berlin will begin later this month.

Salerno has joined the Family Law Practice Team in the Kalamazoo office. She is an experienced attorney who handles family law litigation matters including complex divorces, initial and post judgment child custody matters, change of domicile, paternity, minor guardianship and third-party custody cases involving multi-state jurisdictional issues across southwest Michigan. As a domestic relations mediator, she is frequently retained by other lawyers to mediate their most challenging cases.

In addition to her family law practice, she frequently consults on health care business transactions for compliance under anti-kickback and Stark regulations, which govern physician self-referral for Medicare and Medicaid patients. She also drafts and negotiates physician contracts, handles family complaints and inquiries for health care facility clients, and drafts business agreements and compliance policies for health care vendors.

Salerno is a graduate of Drake University Law School of Des Moines, Iowa, and has a Master of Laws degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She received her BA degree from Michigan State University.

Salerno has been recognized by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of 2014’s ‘Women in the Law.’ She is also a recipient of the Vlachos Award, presented by the Kalamazoo County Bar Association and Legal Aid of Western Michigan in recognition of those who serve low-income persons and senior citizens in litigation matters. Salerno joins the firm from the Kalamazoo office of Kreis Enderle where she was a shareholder.