ButlerADR is the new name for my facilitation/mediation business. After leaving full-time litigation practice in 2021, I continued to mediate as a sole proprietor. That worked pretty well. But I remain involved in many law related organizations, and every one of them wants your law firm affiliation for its membership lists, which in turn will be included on the organization’s correspondence, website, brochure, event name tag, etc. Unfortunately, “Michael J. Butler-Retired”, gives the impression that I am dividing my time between wintering in Florida, playing golf, and summering up North, playing Pickleball. Not that any of that is bad, but certainly not the impression likely to bring your name to mind when a lawyer is looking for a mediator.
I finally decided on the “rebrand” after I attended a recent Detroit Bar Association annual meeting. When I checked in, I picked up my name tag, without really looking at it. Though I had a pretty good idea of who I was, there were a lot of people there I didn’t know (and who didn’t know me). The badge did sport a couple of ribbons, indicating I was a trustee of the Bar Foundation a fellow of the Association and so on. But, when I finally looked closely at the badge, I saw it read:
I did go to Detroit Catholic Central High School, graduating more years ago than I will admit to here. But, I have no recollection of supplying my high school information to any organization since I applied to law school. Why the DBA ever asked for that information, and how any computer app pulled that out for the name tag, no one has ever been able to explain.
But, if I needed a sign that it was time to rebrand, I had it. So, ButlerADR, PLLC was born (filed with the State of Michigan). A name that sounds like what I do. And, in this day and age, what new name doesn’t get a new logo. See the top of the page. Intersecting circles, illustrating an intersection of interests between contesting parties, which will lead to the settlement of their case. A nice Latin motto, which I like to include in a lot of what I do. “Ad propositum”-to the purpose. The purpose being, to resolve the parties’ case.
As how I work hasn’t changed, and as my rates haven’t changed, I have had to tell people that “ad propositum” does not mean “a distinction without a difference”. To borrow from the advertising industry, “Great new packaging, same great price”.
I have run a blog called Lex Fugit (http://www.lexfugit.com) for several years. On that blog, I have written stories about the legal scene in southeast Michigan, past and present. A lot of the stories are my personal experiences, but other lawyers have been good enough to share their stories. Some archived posts can be found on this site, but all the old posts can still be found on the Lex Fugit site.
After using a different blogging platform for many years, it will take a bit of time to get used to WordPress. I hope to be a quick study.
Mike Butler
