Our Team
Michael Lichterman, Personal Family Lawyer®
Michael Lichterman is a talented attorney dedicated to helping individuals and families make the very best legal decisions. Michael’s practice focuses on estate planning, special needs planning, wealth transfer, asset protection, and small business formation and counsel. He develops lifelong relationships with his clients, serving as a trusted advisor to them and their families. Michael skillfully guides his clients as they preserve and protect their assets, loved ones, and legacies, including their intellectual, spiritual, and human assets (values, insights, stories, and experiences).
Michael received his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids, MI and a B.B.A. in Finance from Grand Valley State University. Following law school, Michael worked for a commercial equipment leasing company as Vice President and Assistant Counsel.
In early 2009, seeking ways to follow his passion for helping families and businesses plan for success and create lasting relationships with his clients, Michael took the plunge and started his own law firm. Michael considers each day to be another opportunity to help West Michigan families protect and provide for their future. Michael has been practicing law in Michigan since 2007 and enjoys becoming an on-going trusted advisor and lifelong resource for all his clients, assuring he can be there for their family when they cannot.
As a Personal Family Lawyer®, Michael is devoted to helping families and businesses in West Michigan achieve their goals of protecting their wealth through innovative estate and business planning. Michael thinks of his firm as a caring, forward-looking, problem-solving vehicle for legally and financially transitioning families, especially today’s young families with small children. Michael provides further benefits to his clients and their minor children through the Kid’s Protection Plan – an approach that ensures his clients’ children are cared for in the short-term and the long-term. He also encourages and guides his clients to pass along more than just their financial assets through Priceless Conversations.
When he is not busy with his practice, Michael enjoys spending time with his wife (Mandy) and children (Matthew and Elizabeth), flying, golfing, reading, and playing music at his church. He gives back to the community through his involvement with the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, Rotary, and as a Board member of Greater Life Pentecostal church. And he is proud to be a member of the West Michigan Estate Planning Council, Grand Rapids Bar Association, American Bar Association, Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber of Commerce, and the Grand Rapids Young Professionals.
Paula Woolley, Client Services Director and Marketing Coordinator
Paula is the friendly voice that welcomes new clients to our office, sharing with them our unique approach to estate planning and small business counsel services. Paula is in charge of scheduling for our firm and is responsible for the responsive service for which we are known. A mother of two grown children, Paula is dedicated to helping families protect who and what they love. She also helps us stay in regular contact with our clients, which is key to nurturing lifetime relationships with our clients.
Margaret Ziomkowski, Funding Coordinator
Margaret has worked in various capacities in the estate planning and probate fields for over 12 years. As Funding Coordinator, Margaret assists with the review and organization of asset information for each client, prepares a Family Wealth Inventory, and works diligently with our clients and their financial institutions to make sure their assets are properly funded in coordination with their estate plans.
Nicole Price, Client Service Specialist
Nicole assists Paula in welcoming new clients to our office and educating them about our unique approach to estate planning. She also helps manage our client database and ensures follow-up with seminar guests and the various family groups in the Grand Rapids that we consider great friends. Ultimately, she helps keep the train on the tracks.
