Jerold Lax joined the firm in 2011.
Mr. Lax represents individuals, businesses, and government agencies in matters involving municipal and zoning law, employment law, and litigation. He also serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and fact finder, in a variety of settings.
Mr. Lax served as city attorney for the City of Ann Arbor and now represents a number of municipal governments as well as special boards and authorities in such areas as transportation, pension, and downtown development. He represents private parties in their dealings with governmental agencies, has drafted local ordinances and state legislation in matters of municipal concern, and has represented the Michigan Municipal League in Michigan Supreme Court litigation concerning governmental immunity and other municipal and land use issues.
He has written several articles dealing with municipal law and has lectured on municipal and employment law topics and on alternative dispute resolution for a variety of legal and municipal organizations.
Mr. Lax was a law clerk to the honorable Wade H. McCree, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is former chairperson of the Public Corporation Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and former chairperson of the Michigan Civil Service Commission Employment Relations Board. He is also an associate professor emeritus of urban planning at the University of Michigan, where he taught courses in planning law, negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution.
Mr. Lax is listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2010 under Labor and Employment Law, in The Best Lawyers in America 2011 under Municipal Law and Land Use and Zoning, and in MichiganSuper Lawyers 2007-2011 under Government/Cities/Municipalities. He is AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Lax is Vice Chair of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, and is co-chair of its long-range planning committee. He has served on the boards of Young People’s Theater, Performance Network, the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, and Temple Beth Emeth, and has been on development committees for the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Ark, and Arbor Hospice.
