Dana Beckett
Founding Partner
B&MBusiness litigation & employment law
Business disputes, handled like business
The firm
Sharp, commercial, decisive counsel for companies
We speak in business terms, not Latin. Every recommendation comes down to a decision an owner can actually make: what it costs, what it risks, and what it returns.
A price before the work
Fixed fees where the work allows, phased litigation budgets where it does not. You approve the number before we start, so the bill is never the surprise in the matter.
Decisive by default
A dispute left to drift only gets more expensive. We make the call the moment calls for, whether that is pressing hard or settling early, and we own the recommendation.
Practice
Four ways we go to work
Business litigation and employment law, plus the contracts and ownership agreements that sit underneath every dispute.
01When talking stops workingBusiness & Commercial Litigation Commercial disputes, contract fights, business torts, and injunctions in Michigan state and federal court. We size the fight to the stakes and tell you the number that ends it.02Defense and preventionEmployment Law for Employers We defend employers against discrimination, wage, and wrongful-termination claims, and we build the handbooks, agreements, and processes that keep those claims from starting.03The paper that prevents the fightContracts & Commercial Agreements Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating the agreements a business runs on, written to be enforced in Michigan and to keep you out of the courtroom we also staff.04When owners fall outPartnership & Shareholder Disputes Deadlocks, freeze-outs, breaches of the operating agreement, and shareholder oppression among the people who own the company together. We resolve them, or we win them.
How engagements run
From first call to the number that ends it
Four steps, priced and explained. You always know the next decision and what it costs before we take it.
01
Straight read
We start with the facts and give you an honest assessment: the strength of your position, the range of realistic outcomes, and the cost of each path. No hedging, no billing you to think out loud. You leave the first conversation knowing where you actually stand.
02
A plan with a number
We lay out the strategy and attach a price to it. Counseling and contract work is quoted as a fixed fee. Litigation runs against a written, phased budget with a figure for each stage. You approve the plan and the cost before we move.
03
Decisive execution
We move at the speed the matter demands. That can mean a hard opening motion that resets expectations, or a demand that ends things before they start. We keep you informed in plain language and we never let a case drift for the sake of the file.
04
The number that ends it
Every dispute has an exit, and we keep it in view from day one. Whether the resolution is a settlement, a judgment, or a signed agreement, we push toward the outcome that serves the business, not the one that runs the longest.
The people
Senior lawyers, close to the work
You will not be handed to a rotating cast. A partner stays close to every matter from the first call.
Julian Moss
Partner
Camille Duarte
Senior Associate
Theo Lindqvist
Associate
Straight answers
Questions we hear first
What kinds of cases does Beckett & Moss handle?
We handle business disputes and employment matters for companies. On the litigation side that means contract disputes, business torts, injunctions, and fights among owners of a closely held company. On the employment side we defend employers against discrimination, wage, and wrongful-termination claims, and we build the handbooks, agreements, and processes that prevent them. We do not do personal injury, family law, or criminal defense. We do business, and we do it well.
How do you charge, and will I know the cost up front?
Wherever the work allows it, we quote a fixed fee before we start, so counseling, contract, and employment-advice work comes with a price you agree to in advance. Litigation is harder to price as a single number because the other side gets a vote, so we run it against a written budget with defined phases and we tell you what each phase should cost before we enter it. You will never watch a meter run without knowing where it is headed.
Should we settle or fight?
That is a business decision, and we treat it like one. Early in every dispute we give you a straight read on the merits, the realistic range of outcomes, and what each path will cost in money and time. Sometimes the right move is a hard, fast fight that resets the other side's expectations. Sometimes it is a settlement that ends things before the legal fees exceed the stakes. We tell you which, and we tell you why, rather than selling you the longest possible case.
How fast can you respond when something urgent happens?
Litigation does not keep business hours, and neither do we when a matter is live. If you are served with a lawsuit, hit with a temporary restraining order, or facing a deadline that cannot move, we respond the same day. A great deal of the damage in a commercial emergency is done in the first seventy-two hours, and that is exactly when we want to be involved.
Do you work with companies outside Grand Rapids?
Yes. We are based in Grand Rapids and we appear regularly in the Kent County courts and the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, but our clients run across West Michigan and beyond. Much of our counseling and contract work happens by phone and email regardless of where a company sits, and we travel for the matters that require it.
We are not sure we even have a case yet. Should we still call?
Call. The cheapest hour in any dispute is the one you spend before you act, and an early conversation often changes the whole trajectory of a matter. We would rather help you decide whether there is a problem worth pursuing than meet you after a preventable mistake has narrowed your options. There is no charge to figure out whether we are the right fit.
Talk to us
Have a dispute, or want to prevent one?
Tell us what is going on. You will get a straight read on where you stand, the range of outcomes, and what it costs, before you commit to anything.