Municipal Lawyers
Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC is one of the most experienced, trusted, and affordable municipal law firms in Michigan. Our Municipal Lawyers of Lansing are headed by highly regarded Michigan municipal attorneys and founding members of the firm, Bill Fahey and Steve Schultz, and drain attorney and licensed appraiser Stacy Hissong. Our team also includes Ross Bower, a recognized “rising star” Michigan municipal lawyer, Helen “Lizzie” Mills, recipient of the prestigious “Real Property Law Award” from the State Bar of Michigan, and Matt Wyman, a litigator who sharpened his skills in the Chicago area before returning to his native Michigan to join our firm. Together, we have well over 100 years of experience representing more than 150 townships, cities, villages, drain commissioners, and related municipal entities.
We believe the following qualities keep our clients satisfied and distinguish us from other firms:
- Specialization: Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes's high level of expertise allows us to handle an enormous variety of municipal law issues. We serve as Township Lawyer, City Attorney, Village Lawyer, Counsel for County Drain Commissioners, and Authorities Attorney, either as general counsel, outside counsel ( for clients who have in-house attorneys and staff), or on a special project basis. Our firm's focus on specialization assures our clients that our team of expertly trained municipal lawyers will have the skill and knowledge to meet any challenge faced by our clients. We have the experience and the solutions to proactively address the issues and challenges that municipal officials, drain commissioners, and authority board members encounter.
- Teamwork: Our firm has a commitment to teamwork and technology and communication that allows us to work closely with one another and our clients. Our teamwork mantra enables our firm to streamline our approach to client legal issues from our centralized office in Okemos, just outside of Lansing.
- Affordable Fees: We are committed to providing excellent service at affordable fees. We understand the fiscal challenges faced by municipalities today. We have partnered with our clients through tough times and with the use of cutting edge technology and the efficient use of staff, we have developed an approach to providing service that provides you with superior service at a reasonable cost. As a small firm, we have less overhead than big firms, which is also reflected in our fees.
Some of our municipal practice specialties include:
Publications & Alerts
We constantly monitor the rapidly changing municipal laws and issues. We have instant access to state of the art on-line legal research tools. We receive daily notifications of new appellate decisions and changes in statutes and regulations, and are members and contributors to various municipal law listservs, including the Michigan Townships Association Community Connection and the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys listserv.
We are members and affiliated service providers of the MTA (Michigan Townships Association), MATS (Michigan Association of Township Supervisors), MAMA (Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys), MML (Michigan Municipal League), and MACDC (Michigan Association of County Drain Commissioners.
News
We produce a monthly electronic newsletter for township officials, the Township Law E-Letter, and a quarterly newsletter for drain commissioners.Our Lansing municipal attorneys are also frequent lecturers and speakers at municipal and drain law seminars and conferences. Stay up to date with our latest speaking engagements and firm news, and read our Township and Drain Law e-letters.