Attorneys Fermin M. Mendez, Maureen E. O’Brien, and William L. Thompson have joined the Varnum law firm. All three join the firm as associates.
Mendez is a graduate of University of Michigan Law School and Harvard University. While attending law school, he served as a student attorney for the Michigan Law Entrepreneurship Clinic in Ann Arbor, representing and advising student entrepreneurial ventures on a variety of matters. Mendez also clerked at Ford Motor Company, working on a variety of matters, including exploration of the legal implications of connected vehicles. He has served as a legal intern for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark and worked in the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office in Morristown, New Jersey. Mendez will work in the firm’s Novi and Detroit offices.
O’Brien is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and received her undergraduate degree from Michigan State University. She also studied at Regent’s College of London. O’Brien’s served as a judicial intern for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Pittsburgh) and provided research assistance at the University of Iowa College of Law. She also served as a judicial intern for the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago. O’Brien will be based in Varnum’s Grand Rapids office.
Thompson is a graduate of Wayne State University School of Law and also received his undergraduate degree from Wayne State. He served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Sean F. Cox of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Prior to his legal career, Thompson was a member of DTE Energy’s Renewable Energy Projects team as a real estate analyst. He also served with the United States Marine Corps as a Staff Sergeant, from 2004 to 2008, during which time he was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq and Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Thompson will split his time between the firm’s Detroit and Novi offices.
In order to provide associates a well-rounded experience that allows an in-depth look at the work done in various areas of law, Varnum associates spend their first two years working with a variety of teams within the firm as they decide on an area for their legal focus.