Charles W. Borgsdorf is a 1969 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. He joined the firm in 1976 after practicing in New York City and teaching law for five years. His primary area of practice is in Business and Commercial Law. He advises start-up business on choice of entity and in preparing all necessary documentation. He advises established businesses on a wide range of legal matters including contracts, personnel matters, organizational and operational issues. In addition to his work for entities that are for profit, he provides advice to non-profit organizations and has provided assistance in their formation and application for tax exempt status. He has two sub-specialties. The first is in Alternative Dispute Resolution. He has served as a case evaluator in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court for more than two decades, has acted as a single arbitrator or as a member of a panel of arbitrators in many cases and is a Washtenaw County Circuit Court approved mediator. He has served as a mediator in over one hundred cases. He serves both when appointed by the Court and when selected by private parties and occasionally in matters where a lawsuit has not yet been filed. His second sub-specialty is in Professional Responsibility and Ethics. He is a former Assistant Dean of the University of Michigan Law School and was an Adjunct Faculty there for nine consecutive years teaching a regular curriculum class on legal ethics. He regularly provides service as an advisor to law firms and lawyers on matters pertaining to professional ethics and has served as an expert witness on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants in legal malpractice cases.
He has been active in many community and non-profit organizations. He is president of the Board of Legal Services of South Central Michigan, a 13 county program providing free legal services to the poor. He is a member of the board of the University Musical Society, Dawn Farm (a drug and alcohol treatment program), the Kerrytown Concert House and chairs the Advisory Board of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan Standing Committee on Character and Fitness and is a member of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education Business Law and Mediation Advisory Boards. He has published several books and articles on business and corporate law. He has an A-V rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since its inception.