If I told you that the Miller Johnson law firm was roughly doubling its office footprint in Detroit, you’d be forgiven if you said you already knew that.

Turns out they are doing it again.

In May 2023, Grand Rapids-based Miller Johnson announced it was relocating its Detroit offices to the Dan Gilbert-owned Ally Detroit Center office tower. The move grew its offices from 6,000 square feet in the DuMouchelle Building at 409 E. Jefferson Ave. to about 10,500 square feet in the Ally skyscraper at 500 Woodward Ave., I reported at the time. 

Now it’s kind of a repeat from two years ago — but this time the law firm is staying in the Ally Detroit Center. Miller Johnson is moving into a new 36th-floor office in the building with 24,200 square feet. In the new digs there are 79 offices and seven conference rooms, according to a news release.

When the west side law firm opened its Detroit office in 2020, it had just six people. Today, it has a staff of 35, and Miller Johnson said the new space allows for additional growth in the near- and long-term.

Fadwa Hammoud, managing member of the office, said Tuesday that construction on the new space began in December.

“It’s a big investment and a strategic one,” Hammoud said. “Miller Johnson has deep roots on the west side of the state. What’s happening within Detroit is not just an expansion of Miller Johnson; it’s a bridge. We saw the need to bridge the gap between West Michigan and Southeast Michigan if we really wanted to create a statewide firm that services clients wherever they are and where they are growing. It’s a statement that we are here to stay. From Grand Rapids to Detroit, we really are one firm, fully integrated, aligned to help our clients thrive across the state.”

Livonia-based Rizer LLC is building out the new Miller Johnson space. Whitmore Lake-based FormDesign Studio Group LLC is the architect.

In 2020, Miller Johnson purchased the Detroit-based law firm Lusk Albertson and last year, it added four attorneys from Abbott Nicholson PC, based in Troy. Miller Johnson, which also has a Kalamazoo office in addition to its Grand Rapids base of operations, has 150-plus attorneys among its 260 or so employees.

Law firms leased a record of 10.2 million square feet in 2024, besting the previous high of 8.4 million square feet leased in 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic began — by 20.5%, according to Savills pc, a London-based brokerage house that has a Detroit office and specifically tracks law firm leasing activity in the U.S., among other things.

Last year’s record also marked a 31.4% year-over-year increase from 2023, when 7.7 million square feet was leased.

In the last quarter for which data was available, Savills said there was a whopping 3.8 million square feet of office space leased by law firms.

Miller Johnson joins a raft of local law firms making big real estate moves over the last several years.

Most recently, Farmington Hills-based Sam Bernstein Law Firm more than tripled its space with a nearby relocation to the Woodlands Officecentre in Farmington Hills. And Southfield-based Goodman Acker PC moved to an 11,200-square-foot office in the Two Towne Square office tower, representing a 25% increase in space.

Others making moves in the last several years: Southfield-based Maddin Hauser Roth & Heller PC; Southfield-based Brooks Kushman PC; Detroit-based Dykema Gossett LP (both in the city and in the suburbs); Troy-based Dinsmore & Shohl LP; Detroit-based Clark Hill PLC; Detroit-based Lewis & Munday PC; and Warner Norcross + Judd LLP. 

All of those law firms made moves that run that gamut, from relocations to new cities, big space consolidations and expansions.