Founded in 1878, the main office of the law firm known today as Dickinson Wright PLLC has always been located within a three-block radius of its original location in the heart of Detroit. Its founders were Henry Munroe Campbell and Henry Russel, both native Detroiters and graduates of the University of Michigan Law School. "H.M.," as Campbell was affectionately called, was the son of a long-serving justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and was admitted to the bar in 1877. Russel was an assistant attorney for the Michigan Central Railroad Company. The young men began their partnership in the general practice of law from an office in the Campau Building, which once stood on Griswold.

In the early days, Russel devoted much of his time to his railroad caseload, while H.M. was responsible for the development and operation of the fledgling organization. Before long, the pair was joined in the Firm by Charles H. Campbell, H.M.'s brother and a fellow alumnus of the University of Michigan, who took over most of the clerical work and the legal matters involved with the conveyancing of real estate.

The Firm flourished from its earliest days. One of its first significant transactions was the acquisition, drainage, and sale of marshlands along the Detroit and Rouge rivers on behalf of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. These lands were later sold at great profit to numerous large corporations and launched the Firm's very successful trust business.

It is no coincidence that the success of the Firm closely paralleled the growth of the city of Detroit, especially in the years from 1900-1930. It was during this period that the city experienced explosive growth due to the evolution and popularity of the automobile as a viable means of transportation as well as the proliferation of manufacturers of ancillary products and services. Growth in other business sectors, such as general manufacturing, mercantile business, real estate development, banking, and trust business, further contributed to the Firm's growth.

Internally, the Firm was evolving rapidly as well. By 1900, the three partners were supported by four associates, a real estate manager, a bookkeeper, and a stenographer and had relocated their office to the old Union Trust Building. One of those associates, Harry C. Bulkley, became a partner of the Firm in 1901, and in 1906, the Firm name was changed to Russel, Campbell & Bulkley. Over the years, the name changed numerous times to reflect both the contributions of new partners and the departure of the old. The Firm adopted its current name, Dickinson Wright PLLC, when it established itself as a professional limited liability company in January 1998.

Since its inception, the Firm has been instrumental in a number of events of historical significance. Members of the Firm were involved in the drafting of the state of Michigan's two constitutions in the twentieth century: first in 1908, when Henry Campbell served as a delegate from Wayne County to the constitutional convention; and again in 1963, when William B. Cudlip and Richard C. VanDusen were elected as delegates. Mr. Cudlip served as chairman of the same committee on which Campbell served at the 1908 convention. Mr. VanDusen served on the 1963 convention's committee on rules.

The Firm's Chairman, Dennis W. Archer, was elected Mayor of the City of Detroit in 1993, and was the first African American to serve as the President of the American Bar Association.

The Firm has been prominent in financial matters as well, including the effort to organize a new national bank in Detroit after President Franklin D. Roosevelt closed all banks nationwide in 1933. During World War II, the organization assisted the National Bank of Detroit in developing loans to war industries that were guaranteed in whole or in part by the United States.

On the legislative front, the Firm has drafted several significant statutes, including the Michigan Financial Institutions Act of 1937, which was the predecessor of the 1969 banking code; and the Intangibles Tax Act, which established a uniform taxation plan. The Industrial Facilities Tax Act of 1974, which allowed tax abatements for corporations, was initially prepared by the Firm, as was the Community Property Tax Act of 1948, which permitted federal joint income tax returns for married people in non-community property states like Michigan.

The Firm has enjoyed numerous long-term relationships with nationally known companies. The law Firm has been associated with Chrysler Corporation since its organization in the 1920s, and lent its expertise in the process leading to the loan guarantee authorized by the United States Congress that permitted financial restructuring of the carmaker in the 1980s. Its association with both Ford Motor Company and Kmart Corporation spans recent decades. But perhaps the strongest testimony to the Firm's commitment to its clients is its association with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which dates back to the turn of the last century.

Another noteworthy association was with the once prosperous McLouth Steel Corporation, for whom the Firm handled a number of important pieces of litigation. One such case involved an alleged patent infringement suit brought when McLouth installed a system in its plant that allowed the conversion of pig iron into steel, producing a much better grade of steel at a much lower cost. A patent on the process held by another developer was pending, and the developer sued. The U.S. Court of Appeals eventually ruled in favor of McLouth, thus making a valuable process for the production of better and more inexpensive steel available to the entire U.S. steel industry.

Today, Dickinson Wright employs more than 200 attorneys, 25 legal assistants, and 200 support staff members in offices located in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, and Washington, D.C. It has expertise in more than 40 areas of legal practice and has a worldwide presence due to its virtual office concept and innovative technology systems.

Dickinson Wright's founders would no doubt marvel at this practice diversity as well as at the diversity of its workforce and the technology the Firm now uses as it moves beyond its 125th anniversary.