Founder, The Private Firm
Reese Serra
Attorney and Counselor
Counsel shaped by the experience of owning, operating, and protecting businesses with real capital and real consequences at stake.
Since the age of twelve
He has lived the problems his clients face.
Reese built his practice on a simple truth. The strongest counsel begins with understanding what is genuinely at stake for the owner.
Reese Serra, founder of The Private Firm, has been a business owner since he was twelve years old. An entrepreneur to his core, Reese has owned dozens of businesses across his career and has personally confronted nearly every challenge a business owner can encounter. He did not learn about HR and employment disputes, funding, investment, tax matters, payroll, partnerships, and cash flow from a textbook. He lived them, day in and day out.
That lived experience shapes how Reese practices law. When a client sits across from him wrestling with a hiring decision gone wrong, a financing deal that has stalled, an unexpected tax exposure, or a partner who has become an adversary, Reese has almost certainly stood in the same place himself, with his own capital and his own name on the line.
Counsel for owners and leadership
Advising businesses through conflict, growth, and transition.
Legal command and operating experience come together around the decisions that can materially change a business.
Complex Disputes and Litigation
Reese represents clients in high stakes commercial litigation, including breach of contract actions, partnership disputes, shareholder litigation, and other contentious business conflicts. Whether resolved through negotiation or tried to a result, his objective remains clear: protect the client’s reputation, financial position, and long term interests.
Estate, Succession, and Tax Planning
Reese helps business owners preserve wealth, minimize tax exposure, and transition their enterprises to the next generation or to new ownership on their own terms. For an owner, planning is not abstract. It protects everything a lifetime of work has created.
Corporate Counsel Across Industries
Reese provides counsel to businesses ranging from startups to established publicly traded companies. His work includes corporate governance, shareholder and operating agreements, buy sell agreements, profits interests, warrants, organizational documents, and disputes across a broad range of industries.
Public Advocacy
As a negotiator, advocate, and lobbyist, Reese has appeared before the Michigan Public Service Commission, the Governor of Michigan, Michigan state senators, and the Michigan House of Representatives. He has also advocated for tens of thousands of Michigan residents on issues affecting families, parents, and children.
Where clients turn to him
Representative experience.
Select a discipline to explore the matters Reese handles for owners, enterprises, and families.
Complex Commercial Litigation
Representation in high stakes disputes, including breach of contract, partnership disputes, and shareholder litigation, with strategic litigation and negotiation aimed at protecting clients’ reputations and financial well being.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Representing high net worth individuals and businesses in complex acquisitions, negotiating favorable terms, protecting client interests throughout the transaction, and identifying growth opportunities.
Business Organization, Restructuring, and Reorganization
New business formation and planning, plus comprehensive counsel to companies undergoing significant restructuring, debt negotiations, operational streamlining, and compliance with legal requirements.
Estate Planning, Business Succession, and Tax Planning
Comprehensive planning to preserve wealth, minimize tax exposure, and transition businesses to the next generation or to new ownership.
Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement
Trademark and copyright registrations, intellectual property licensing, infringement matters, and trade secret protection.
Corporate Governance and Compliance
Guidance on governance best practices, commercial agreements, shareholder agreements, corporate bylaws, internal investigations, and compliance programs that mitigate legal risk.
Beyond the legal brief
Built on trusted relationships.
What truly sets Reese apart is his dedication to building strong, trusted relationships. He takes the time to understand each client’s aspirations and challenges, then delivers tailored solutions aligned to their goals. With Reese as their advocate, business owners gain a partner who has not only mastered the legal intricacies of their world but has run businesses of his own and knows firsthand what is at stake.
Outside the firm
Husband. Father. Advocate.
Outside the firm, Reese is a devoted husband and the father of six children. He credits his success, without reservation, to his wife. The same values that drive him at home are the values he brings to every client he serves.
Credentials
Admissions, education, and professional recognition.
A formal record of the jurisdictions, education, and peer recognition supporting Reese’s practice.
Courts and jurisdictions
- State Bar of Michigan, 2011, P74482
- State of New York, 2024
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Academic foundation
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Juris Doctor, 2011
Honors Scholarship recipient
Dean’s List
Oakland University
Bachelor of Science
Political Science, 2007
Michigan Rising Stars
Super Lawyers
Business Litigation Business and Corporate
Selected 2016 through 2019 and 2021 through 2024