Welcome

Our law firm has been in Kalamazoo for three generations. Jacob A. Dalm, Sr., my grandfather, immigrated to this area from the Netherlands in the early 1900’s. At the age of 16 years and unable to speak English, he found a job working in a paper processing plant, feeding pulp into large presses. On one particular day while pushing pulp between the press, he caught both his arms in the heavy mechanic press. The large press severed his right arm to the elbow and left his right hand without fingers.

Following a long recovery, my grandfather learned that he could no longer maintain a job requiring physical labor. His injuries led to a lawsuit against the paper company ending in a jury award of $5,000—a sizeable award for the early 1900s. My grandfather was so impressed with the American legal process; he invested his jury award into a college education. He opted to go to law school and henceforth graduated from the University of Michigan in 1917.

My father, Jacob A. Dalm, Jr., joined him in practice after serving in World War II as a naval officer. I was fortunate to have practiced with my father from 1981 to 1989, whereupon he retired and moved to Florida. To this day, he remains an active “of counsel” member of the firm. Our firm specializes in Estate planning and administration and in elder law services.