Courtney Quist works behind scenes to make Grand Rapids a better place to practice law

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LEGAL NEWS PHOTOS BY CYNTHIA PRICE

by Cynthia Price
Legal News

Courtney Quist is very good at taking advice.

When she was starting out her solo practice here in Grand Rapids, attorney Robert Ralph asked her if she had joined the Grand Rapids Bar Association yet. When she said she had not, he told her, “You need to do that right away.”

Quist wasted no time, and she wound up taking her involvement way beyond the expected.

At this year’s Law Day Luncheon, the Grand Rapids Bar Association expressed its appreciation by giving her its President’s Award, “to recognize special contributions and unique service... [The award] signifies unusual and extraordinary help and assistance that has been given generously and in the spirit of self-service.”

Indeed, Quist’s spirit of giving is so low-key that she is almost invisible, and that is the way she likes it.

As the hard-working co-chair of the Justice Foundation of West Michigan, she does have to give the occasional speech and be the public face for the foundation.

“As I was getting more involved with the Bar Association, my friend Suanne Watt Stay at Rhoades McKee  pulled me into the Justice Foundation,” Quist says. “It wasn’t until later that I realized I was going to have to stand up in front of all those people at the dinners and at the lip sync. Oh my gosh, I was like a deer in the headlights the first time.”

Quist is also good at taking, and seeking, advice in her solo practice at Quist Law PLLC, which is devoted exclusively to family law.

“What I found is if I went to the senior attorneys they would answer whatever questions I had, people like Mike Quinn or Connie Thacker. I would write down and remember the things they said — I was unashamed,” Quist says with a smile.

This was particularly important because at the time she moved to Grand Rapids and set up her firm, she was transitioning from a brief career on the east side of the state in insurance defense and workers’ comp.

What brought her to West Michigan was meeting and marrying Judge George “Jay” Quist, then a workers’ compensation judge located in Lansing. The two have a son, Jonathan, who turns 15 this month. “He’s the love of our lives – he’s a great kid,” says Quist.

A native of Jacksonville Fla., Quist received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Florida, but she came here to study at Wayne State University Law School.

Following that, she worked at law firms of various sizes in West Bloomfield, Southfield, and Farmington Hills, but the move to the west side afforded her an opportunity to switch fields. “It was a good time to get out of insurance defense,” she says.

That brought with it a steep learning curve. “I taught myself. I bought these books from ICLE and read every word. Later I had a case against Ric Roane and when I asked about him, someone told me, ‘Well you know he wrote the book.’ And I looked in these big volumes, and yes, he literally did write the book! But it was all good; he was a perfect gentleman,” she adds.

Co-located with several other attorneys in a downtown suite of offices, many of whom are family lawyers, Quist feels she has the best of both worlds. “I think when we moved in here we wondered how it would go, but we’ve become more of a comprehensive team. There’s nothing that someone in this office hasn’t seen and knows how to handle, so we rely on each other. But we’re all independent businesses, and independent spirits, too, so we don’t want to be in law firms. We work really well together.”

Quist notes that the office set-up also allows them to save on overhead, including personnel costs.

She is a certified domestic mediator and refreshes her skills frequently, but says she prefers collaborative practice. And she loves what she does.

Jay Quist was initially appointed to a position as a family court judge, and he took very seriously the need to learn family law in and out. “He made a huge effort to educate himself, but the result was we used to talk about family law non-stop — on vacation, 24-7, all family law all the time,” she says, laughing. “I’m really glad he’s moved over to criminal civil. It’s completely different.”

Quist credits her husband with the idea for the Destination CLE held earlier this year. “We would go to the State Bar’s Family Law winter session, but it was almost exclusively people from the east side, so there wasn’t very much networking opportunity. So Jay suggested we should do that here.” Quist worked hard on last year’s trip and says the plans are already underway for another one, this time to Punta Cana with the subject practicing law in the 21st century.

That is just one of the few activities that resulted in her award. She is finishing up a term as a trustee, is an instructor at the GRBA’s 3Rs program of  civic education at Ottawa Hills High School and participant in the annual Constitution Day, and serves on the Strategic Planning, Finance, and Building Expansion committees. She also just gives a helping hand wherever she is needed.

“We’re working really hard right now on a lawyers’ lounge at the courthouse,” she says. “Ben Hammond is spearheading that. We have a great space and it will be a place where GRBA members can come and just spread out, and think or relax. We’ll also have seminars there. It’s very exciting.”

Quist says she was pleased and honored to get the President’s Award, but also a little surprised. And she encountered a further surprise at the luncheon, since until the last minute she did not realize she had to speak.

“I was sitting with a group of my friends, and they were all so nervous for me when I found out I had to say something. And it was great to see their faces when I was done, along with my husband in the back — looks of pure relief  that I’d gotten through it.

“Now that’s love,” she says.
 

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