Maxwell Dunn, PLC

Focus and practice areas

Based in Detroit, the firm centers its work on two connected fields: business law and business bankruptcy. Maxwell Dunn helps owners form companies, grow them, and put contracts in place. It also handles the purchase, sale and merger of businesses, along with shareholder and business disputes.

The client base is business owners, founders and entrepreneurs across Southeast Michigan. In my opinion the pairing of transactional business work with bankruptcy and debt matters is a sensible fit, since the same owners who build a company often need help when its finances come under strain.

Both fields lean on the same skill of reading contracts and financial records closely, so a lawyer moving between a merger and a Chapter 11 works from familiar ground.

Bankruptcy and business turnaround

Chapter filings give the firm a steady stream of matters beyond its transactional side. Maxwell Dunn handles Chapter 7, Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 cases, and it takes on both business and family clients.

Those chapters do different jobs. Chapter 7 liquidates assets to clear qualifying debts. Chapter 13 sets up a repayment plan for individuals with regular income. Chapter 11 lets a business keep operating while it reorganizes what it owes. A firm that files across all three can match the chapter to each client's situation.

Business and family filings

For families, a Chapter 7 case moves through a means test, a meeting of creditors and, for eligible filers, a discharge of remaining balances. A Chapter 13 case runs on a court-approved plan that lasts three to five years. Because the firm files for both companies and households, an owner whose business trouble reaches home finances can keep the same counsel across both.

Ethan Dunn leads this side of the firm's work. His practice covers bankruptcy, turnaround and broader business advisory questions. Turnaround often starts before any filing, when a company still has room to renegotiate terms or restructure operations. The advisory role can mean sitting with founders on financing, structure and growth decisions well before any dispute.

How the team is built

Three attorneys appear on the firm's roster, and their backgrounds cover the range of work Maxwell Dunn takes on.

Partners and attorneys

Ethan Dunn is the founder and managing partner. He earned his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2006, and his practice covers bankruptcy, business turnaround and the purchase, sale and merger of businesses. He co-chairs the Federal Bar Association Bankruptcy Practice Group and advises the U.S. Small Business Administration Emerging Leaders program.

Alexander Berry-Santoro is the managing attorney. He studied at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and completed his degree in 2016, then joined the State Bar of Michigan in 2017. He is a litigator with trial and appellate experience, and he handles both consumer and corporate matters.

Brenda J. Maxwell is the founding partner, now emeritus. She has practiced law for more than 30 years and holds a license in Washington, D.C. as well as Michigan. She completed her undergraduate degree and a master's in educational psychology research at Michigan State University, then studied law at Wayne State University. She holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and stepped back from full-time work in 2017. She stays on as an advisor to the firm.

Dispute resolution and transactions

Business disputes make up a clear part of the firm's litigation work. Berry-Santoro works to resolve shareholder and business conflicts, and he can pursue a resolution short of a lawsuit or a bankruptcy filing where that suits the matter.

Shareholder disputes tend to turn on the operating or shareholder agreement, on buyout terms and on the duties owners owe each other. A litigator who has argued at both the trial and appellate levels can press a claim through a first hearing and, where the outcome calls for it, an appeal. When talks fail, the dispute can reach a Michigan business court, where a judge with a commercial docket hears the claim.

Formation and contracts

Business formation covers choosing an entity, filing with the state and drafting the governing documents that set how owners share control and profit. Contract work includes drafting new agreements and reviewing terms a client has been handed. A merger or sale usually moves through valuation, due diligence, a purchase agreement and closing, and counsel who also knows bankruptcy can help when a target carries debt.

In my opinion, keeping formation, contracts and dispute work under one roof helps an owner who later faces a fight over the same documents the firm drafted. The same lawyers who set up an entity understand how its terms were meant to work.

Credentials and standing

As a reviewer, I weight verifiable credentials over adjectives, and Maxwell Dunn gives a few to point to. Ethan Dunn's role with the Federal Bar Association Bankruptcy Practice Group and his advisory work with the Small Business Administration are both matters of public record. Co-chairing a bar association practice group is a service post that puts an attorney in regular contact with other bankruptcy practitioners. Brenda J. Maxwell holds an AV rating, a peer-reviewed mark through Martindale-Hubbell.

The firm also notes that its attorneys have handled probate, estate planning and mediation. Mediation offers a route to settle a dispute outside a courtroom, where a neutral helps the parties reach terms they set themselves. The site does not list a founding year. Maxwell Dunn runs from a single Detroit office and serves business owners across Southeast Michigan.

Local bankruptcy rule work

A court-related credential adds useful detail to Ethan Dunn's bankruptcy background. He served on the committee that revised the local bankruptcy rules for the Eastern District of Michigan. That work concerns the procedural framework for bankruptcy cases in the district that includes the firm's Detroit office.

From a reviewer's perspective, the committee role carries a different weight from a general practice description. It records direct participation in the administration of local bankruptcy practice. Reviewing rule language calls for close attention to procedure and the effect that wording has on matters before the court. The position also places Dunn's turnaround and Chapter work in a specific federal forum, rather than leaving his experience described only by subject area.

Office details and firm identity

The office has a suite-specific address at 2937 E. Grand Blvd., Suite 308, Detroit, Michigan. The listing also provides a direct telephone number, (248) 246-1166, and the firm's website at maxwelldunnlaw.com. Those details give prospective clients clear points of contact for arranging a consultation or confirming where an in-person meeting will take place.

The public-facing name is Maxwell Dunn Law, while the legal name is Maxwell Dunn, PLC. That distinction can matter when a client reviews an engagement letter, invoice or court document that uses the formal entity name. Both names identify the same Detroit practice.

The East Grand Boulevard address also gives the practice a defined physical base within the city. For a firm whose attorneys handle documents tied to business ownership and debt proceedings, a complete suite address is practical information. It lets clients identify the office before delivering records or attending a scheduled meeting. The record supplies one office location, one website and one telephone contact, which makes the directory information straightforward to verify.