A nasty legal tussle between two powerful Detroit-based law firms will apparently play out in a Berrien County court room in St. Joseph, after the case was moved here under a change of venue.
Kotz Sangster is suing Butzel Long and sixteen former employees, eight lawyers and eight support team members. for more than $ 11 Million dollars the Kotz firm claims was profit lost over five years on dozens of cases that moved with the lawyers to Butzel Long.
In more than 60 pages, Kotz Sangster claims Butzel Long actively recruited the legal team that had established the firm’s presence in West Michigan, effectively shutting down their operations in 2024. Both firms had been in the process of expanding their presence in West and Southwest Michigan, extending their reach across the state from their traditional strong base in Southeastern Michigan.
Kotz says it had established offices in South Haven, Niles and St. Joseph prior to the ‘raid’ it alleges took place. Currently, there is no reference to SW Michigan offices on the Kotz website.
Butzel Long maintains it all happened in the normal course of business, that lawyers change firms all the time and that clients have the last word in choosing their legal representation. The Butzel website shows the three SW Michigan offices in operation with several attorneys in each.
The case was assigned to the Berrien Trial Court in June. There has been no further action toward scheduling it for trial.
