By Sue Moore
Big changes are coming for the law firm of Grossman & Moldovan, PLLC, at 108 N. Main Street in Vicksburg. Growth has spurred the partners to separate with Mitch Moldovan moving to his own office at 6100 Stadium Drive, Suite 2 in Kalamazoo, while Brett Grossman continues to grow his practice at 108 N. Main Street, Vicksburg.
“We have a great group in place,” Grossman said. “My job is to take my clients from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most of them don’t come to learn the finer points of the law; they just want their questions answered and problems solved. Our team of Julie Oswalt, Sonya Kasper, and Andrew Horne have been able to establish this type of practice in Vicksburg.”
Grossman has been practicing in the village since 2008. “It was not the easiest time for Mitch and I to open up a new practice,” he recalled before half-jokingly adding, “It probably would have made more sense to put my wife Katie’s maiden name on the door since ‘Stafinski’ was already so well known in Vicksburg.”
Despite less than ideal timing, the business was able to double in volume from 2010 to 2014. The firm was recognized in the State Bar of Michigan’s Pro Bono Circle of Excellence in 2012 for a bi-monthly legal clinic held for South County Community Services (SCCS). This service “was a way for us to get acquainted with the needs of the community when we started,” Grossman said.
The community of Vicksburg has paid off in other ways as well for Brett. He and Mitch met the first day of law school in a legal writing class at Wayne State. Mitch, who is from Vicksburg, managed to introduce Brett to the former Kathryn ‘Katie’ Stafinski shortly after the beginning of the school year, and the rest is history. Nowadays, Katie Stafinski is known as Dr. Kathryn Grossman whose practices medicine in her hometown with Family Doctors of Vicksburg.
“And now, there are so many exciting things are happening in the village of Vicksburg,” Grossman enthused. “It is such an opportunity—a great time to grow with people who want to be an integral part of the community. Our current law clerk, Andrew, will graduate from Michigan State University Law School in May 2015 and has accepted a full-time position as an associate attorney after that time. He is from the Saginaw area and his wife teaches in Three Rivers. He has already contributed so much to the legal work and research behind the Downtown Development Authority’s expanded boundaries.”
Previous to coming to Vicksburg, Grossman was with large law firms in both Lansing and suburban Detroit. “I used to put my coat and tie to go visit with some of the partners. I was never convinced that such formalities translated to client service. A small-town practice is much more my style. I am now able to focus almost exclusively in the areas of real estate law, estate planning and administration and agricultural issues.”
Grossman has received recognition as a Rising Star in Super Lawyers Magazine for attorneys under the age of 40 or having practiced less than ten years. He has been accorded this honor three of the last four years in real estate law.
Giving back to the community has also been a strength of the law practice, with Grossman becoming president of the Lions Club the last year and a half, serving as vice-chair of the Vicksburg Community Schools Foundation board, and helping coach Little League where his daughters are learning hitting, running, and fielding aspects of softball.
Whether it’s on the softball field or at a committee meeting or in his office, Brett is consistently a team player. “I can’t overemphasize the value of the wonderful contributions of our office staff. Julie Oswalt interviewed us for a newspaper article when we first opened our doors well over six years ago. That led to her hiring in as our assistant. Both she and Sonya are detail-oriented and work so well with our clients. I’m thrilled to have them both on board so we can meet our next future growth cycle as Grossman Law PC,” Grossman said.