Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan today announced his plans to nominate attorney Lawrence Garcia to succeed Butch Hollowell as the city’s corporation counsel. Hollowell announced last week that he plans to step down at the end of the year to become managing partner at The Miller Law Firm’s Detroit office.
Mayor Duggan will formally submit his nomination of Garcia in mid-December to ensure the newly-seated City Council will be able to vote after their holiday recess. According to the Detroit City Charter, they will have 30 days from the date of submission to confirm Garcia’s appointment.
With more than 20 years of legal experience Garcia has represented the City of Detroit, Detroit Public Schools, Wayne County, and the Detroit Police Department.
“In a city that faces an average of more than 700 lawsuits every year with (combined) claims of approximately $300 Million, bringing in a corporation counsel with such extensive courtroom experience is a tremendous asset,” says Duggan. “Lawrence Garcia is the attorney private companies and government entities turn to for cases that require expertise beyond what is in house. He will do an outstanding job representing the City of Detroit.”
Garcia is also a two-time president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan and is one of the youngest members of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Additionally, he represents Detroit nonprofits with a focus on civil rights, immigration, and environmental issues and helped the Detroit Branch of the NAACP challenge the redistricting of Michigan in 2005.
Most recently, Garcia volunteered his firm to help Michigan United monitor polling places for civil rights abuses and voter suppression during the 2016 presidential election.
“I am grateful to Mayor Mike Duggan for this nomination and excited about the possibility of serving this great city,” says Garcia. “Detroit is the key to Michigan’s future. I cannot think of anything more important than assisting Mayor Duggan and the Detroit City Council in their efforts to continue moving this city in the right direction to build a brighter future for Detroit.”
Born in Memphis, Garcia spent most of his childhood in Birmingham, Ala. before moving to Michigan in 1992. He practiced law in Detroit before launching his own firm, Garcia Law Group in Detroit’s Fisher Building in 2011.
