Stephen Palms Named Winner of ACES Founders’ Award
The State Bar of Michigan Arts, Communications, Entertainment and Sports Section (ACES) has named Miller Canfield real estate attorney Stephen Palms as the recipient of the 2023 Founders’ Award.
The Founders’ Award is given to a member of the State Bar of Michigan who has made a significant contribution to the arts community in Michigan. Formerly called the Hensel Award in honor of the late John Hensel, an artist and attorney who was a co-founder of the ACES Section of the State Bar of Michigan, the award has been given annually since the early 1980s.
Palms focuses his practice on real estate projects, representing developers, lenders, borrowers, governmental entities, landlords, tenants, sellers and purchasers in the development, construction, financing, leasing, purchase and sale of improved and unimproved property. Palms has been involved in matters involving all types of real property, including office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, schools, stadiums, commercial and residential subdivisions, multi-family apartments and affordable housing projects. Notable projects include the development and construction of Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Palms has also provided legal services to and has served on the governing boards of many civic organizations. He is currently on the boards of the Ann Arbor Art Center and the Legacy Land Conservancy and is a member of the City of Ann Arbor Citizens Advisory Committee. In the past, Palms has served on the boards of the University Musical Society, Performance Network, Artrain USA, the Detroit Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Oakland Community College and Schoolcraft Community College foundations.
Among other honors Palms has received in connection with the practice of real estate law, Palms has been recognized by Chambers USA as a Leading Business Lawyer in Real Estate Law (Band 1), every year since 2007, and he has been recognized in Real Estate Law by “Best Lawyers in America” every year since 1983.