Business I coming home

Family Rules

Tug of Detroit too strong for
transplanted New York couple.

Robert A. Sklar
Editor

A

yearning to be closer to family, a
strong Jewish community, sub-
urban amenities and a golden
job opportunity were chief among the rea-
sons why Michael Ben decided to return
to Metro Detroit after five action-packed
years living and working in New York City.
The 31-year-old corporate lawyer in
the Detroit office of Honigman Miller
Schwartz and Cohn LLP said it wasn't easy
living in the Big Apple, where he went to
work after earning a law degree at Harvard
University.
"Most of my closest friends reside there;
the law firms are considered among the
best in the world and I really enjoy the
chaos/excitement, 24/7, work hard/play-
hard lifestyle of Manhattan:' said Ben, who
now lives in West Bloomfield with his wife,
Jaime, and their 21-month-old daughter,

Caryn.
But Ben, a native Detroiter, doesn't
regret their decision to come home. "I'd
make it again in a heartbeat',' he said. He
says Honigman is a great place to work.
With Jaime five months pregnant at the
time, the Bens wanted their child to be
raised near her extended family. Both sets
of grandparents — Barbara and Allan Ben
and Sherry and George Cantor — live in
West Bloomfield. Michael's brother and his
wife also live nearby.
The Bens liked the housing values and
quality of the public schools in the heart
of Jewish Detroit. They also liked the prox-
imity to Ann Arbor and the University of
Michigan, where both earned undergradu-
ate degrees and were big sports fans.
"My family was a U-M sports family,
and I have so many great memories of
going to Ann Arbor for football, basketball
and other sports with my family:' Ben
said. "I want to share the same experiences

Michael and Jaime Ben with Caryn, 21. months

with my family. Luckily, Jaime shares my
passion for sports!'
The chance to practice law here and
have a much stronger work/life balance
than what was possible in New York
clinched Ben on coming home. "I wanted
to follow the lead of my dad;' Ben said. "He
has practiced as an attorney in this area
for 40 years; he worked hard, but always
attended my sporting events and school
functions and made time for what's most
important"
Ben added, "You can be a successful
attorney in Metro Detroit and still have

significant time for your family and
friends."
Ben is a partner at Honigman and likes
the challenge. He's in the corporate and
security group and co-chairs the securi-
ties and corporate governance practice
group. He is an outside general corporate
and securities counsel to several New York
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq listed public
companies. Ben previously spent almost
five years as a corporate attorney in the
New York offices of Latham & Wakins LLP.
Michael Ben reports to Honigman
Miller's Donald Kunz.

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32

August 9 • 2007

JN