Brandon Biggs was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 2015, after moving to Michigan from Florida, and is an attorney and mediator at Biggs & Gunst.
Biggs earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Flagler College in St Augustine, Fla. After graduation, he rode from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Francisco, with “Bike & Build,” which raises money and awareness for affordable housing programs through cross country cycling trips. After his first year of law school, he led a trip from Virginia Beach, Va., to Cannon Beach, Ore., during which he experienced the loss of a friend and fellow leader on another of Bike & Build’s routes due to an inattentive driver. As a result, Biggs is dedicated to fighting for cyclists’ rights, and getting justice for those who have been injured in motor vehicles.
During this second trip, Biggs met his wife Lizzy, an Ann Arbor native, who would eventually bring them back to Washtenaw County. Biggs received his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law, where he specialized in maritime and admiralty law, with an emphasis in trial practice.
In addition to growing up in and around the water in Florida, his interest in maritime issues stem from three years working aboard a 72-foot “tall ship” during college.
In law school, he served as co-chair of the Maritime Law Association, and worked as a Sea Grant Law Fellow, when he worked with local municipalities on clean energy issues, aiding the state in creating a comprehensive guide for municipalities interested in implementing clean energy initiatives.
A resident of Ann Arbor, Biggs spends his free time with his wife and their Airedale, Opie. A car enthusiast, he enjoys working on cars, going on drives, and is in the process of rebuilding a vintage motorcycle. He also volunteers to help the community. In 2017 Biggs & Gunst sponsored a food drive for Food Gatherers, volunteered their time in a soup kitchen, and Biggs rode his bicycle 150 miles across Michigan in a single day to raise money for juvenile diabetes.
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
What would surprise people about your job?
After working for other small firms in Metro Detroit I recently started my own practice in Ann Arbor with a law school classmate and friend. We are both avid cyclists and among handling other auto and personal injury cases we are working to distinguish ourselves as advocates for bicyclists’ rights.
Why did you become a lawyer?
Probably because my parents used to complain about how much I liked to argue ... I have always been driven to serve others and am instinctively a problem solver, and the law offered a platform to help people in some of their darkest hours and make their lives better in any way I can.
What’s your favorite law-related TV show, movie, and/or book?
I am a pretty big dork when it comes to legal movies, to my wife’s dismay. I even took a lawyering in film writing course my last semester in college, but “The Rainmaker” probably takes the cake for me.
If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would that be?
My dog.
What do you do to relax?
I am a cyclist, so I enjoy putting miles of road beneath me whenever I get a chance. I am also a surfer, but that is a bit harder since moving to Michigan, so I have taken up paddle boarding as the next best thing, and I am an avid sailor.
What other career path might you have chosen?
I enjoy building things and working with my hands in my spare time, so maybe a carpenter or a mechanic. I worked in a bicycle shop as a mechanic while finishing law school, and that was pretty fun.
Favorite website?
Autotrader. I am a pretty big car guy and I am always looking for cool and strange things that people have listed, even if I am just looking.
Favorite app?
Pandora.
Favorite music?
It is eclectic to put it lightly. I love the blues, classic rock, 90s hip-hop, country, folk, pretty much anything.
What is your happiest childhood memory?
I was blessed to have a very happy childhood with some awesome parents, but when I was about 7, I won a go-kart in a supermarket sweepstakes. That was pretty awesome!
What is your most treasured material possession?
I enjoy things with history, so I guess in that vein my great-great-grandfather’s watch.
What has been your favorite year so far and why?
Well, 2017 saw me start my own firm and get married, so I think that wins to this point.
What’s the most awe-inspiring place you’ve ever been?
I have ridden my bicycle across the country twice for charity. We slept on the floors of churches or community centers for 10 weeks at a time, saw some of the most beautiful places in this country and met some incredible people along the way. Seeing 50 or so people come together to rebuild a house for someone who has lost everything may win out over any scenic outlook I have ever been to.
If you could have one super power, what would it be?
Teleportation.
What’s one thing you would like to learn to do?
There are quite a few things on this list, but I would love to learn to weld, scuba dive, play the guitar, and pick up a few languages.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
A friend once told me he has gotten to do the coolest things in his life because he had the guts to ask if he could, where others assumed they couldn’t. It has worked out pretty well so far.
Favorite place to spend money?
I am often prohibited by those closest to me from entering record stores or bike shops.
What is your motto?
Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.
Which living person do you most admire?
My dad.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Convincing my wife to spend the rest of her life with me.
What is the most unusual thing you have done?
I plead the 5th.
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Would you like to be featured in a Get To Know Profile, or nominate a colleague? E-mail Sheila Pursglove at spursglove@legalnews.com.
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