Barnes & Thornburg Names Robert Stead Grand Rapids Managing Partner

GRAND RAPIDS – Robert Stead has been named managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Grand Rapids office, effective July 1, 2018.

Stead succeeds Robert Sikkel, a 30-year veteran of labor and employment law, who will continue to represent and counsel employers on complex issues impacting their workforces and business operations.

“We are grateful for Bob Sikkel’s outstanding leadership over the past two years and the successful blueprint that’s been created to cultivate and grow that office, especially his involvement in adding nearly 10 new attorneys during his management tenure,” said Bob Grand, firm managing partner.

“Bob Sikkel exemplifies firm stewardship and was a recognized leader of this office even before he took this post,” said Stead. “My goal is to maintain our upward trajectory, where we’re drawing the best legal talent in Western Michigan who aspire to serve industry-leading clients with a value-focused model.”

Stead, a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department and co-chair of the Agriculture and Food Practice Group, focuses his practice on M&A and financing transactions and tax-related matters. He is involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, where he serves on the Committee on S Corporations and Committee on Closely-Held Businesses of the Section of Taxation, as well as the Committee on Negotiated Acquisitions of the Section of Business Law. He is also a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Taxation Section (and is a former chairperson) and the Grand Rapids Bar Association.

Barnes & Thornburg, which is the only Am Law 100 firm in Grand Rapids, has some of Michigan’s most knowledgeable attorneys with experience in more than 50 practice areas, including agriculture, aviation, corporate transactions and finance, environmental, intellectual property, labor and employment, Native American law, real estate, private client services and litigation. Now with 28 attorneys, the Grand Rapids office has made several growth moves since the beginning of 2017, including the additions of Patrick Miles, Jr., Jeff Davis, Charles Becker, David Hill, Scott Dienes and Amy Zdravecky as well as Todd Dixon, and Joseph Hess.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from 14 offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, Texas and Washington, D.C.