When Advice Becomes Impact

 

Andrew Switalski did not leave Dykema to step away from firm life; he left to build upon it.

“I had a great experience at Dykema,” he says without hesitation. The move was not about departure, but direction. In-house work was an opportunity to take the regulated industries experience and client judgment he developed in Dykema’s Lansing office and apply them across a strategic business enterprise. What appealed to him most was the focus, the opportunity to be part of what he describes as “a one-client, business-minded path.”

Seven years later, that path has led him to serve as Vice President and General Counsel of Union Carbide Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. As a member of the Union Carbide Executive Management Team and advisor to its Board of Directors, he now oversees securities compliance, corporate governance, crisis management, litigation, and enterprise risk for the global industrial company. In addition to his role with Union Carbide, he supports Dow’s global subsidiaries as a member of its Office of Corporate Secretary and advises on complex infrastructure and financing transactions for the company.

 

WHERE THE BRICKS WERE LAID

Switalski began his career in Dykema’s Lansing office, working in regulated industries and public infrastructure finance. He describes that period as “the foundation” of everything that followed. The technical training mattered; the rigor of sophisticated financing work established high standards early in his career. Just as influential were the less visible lessons.

His office was right next door to Ann Fillingham’s, a proximity that shaped more than he realized at the time.

“Ann was a great mentor to me,” he recalls. “Not just the technical work in the bond world, which she’s wonderful at, but those soft client relations skills. How to engage a client. The tone of an email. Those things matter.”

For a young lawyer, those details shape reputation long before titles do. Switalski often reflects on how early experiences compound over time. “How were those bricks built at the bottom of the foundation?” he asks. “That’s what sets you up for success later.”

His background in government policy and politics added another layer. In Lansing, legal work often intersects with public affairs, regulatory strategy, and stakeholder management. That blending of disciplines prepared him for corporate life, where the lines between legal, government relations, communications, and business strategy often overlap. “The borders blend,” he says. “And that background helps you provide the best advice you can across all those different disciplines.”

 

TWO SENTENCES. YES. HERE’S WHY.

The move in-house required a different way of thinking, one grounded not in billable hours but in business impact. Inside a corporation, the legal department is part of the support infrastructure; it is not the business itself. “It’s the legal department’s job to help facilitate the business, not just to be the yes or no on risk decisions.”

Knowing when a matter requires a deep dive and when it requires a decisive answer is part of earning trust. “When is it appropriate to give the quick answer, and when is it appropriate to commission the legal memorandum?” he asks. “That business judgment is what builds trust.”

The lawyer who understands that balance becomes not just an advisor, but a partner in decision-making.

 

EMPATHY AT SCALE

Switalski’s career at Dow began in embedded business roles, where he worked directly alongside sales, marketing, and product teams. Over seven years, he rotated through a number of  Dow’s operating businesses before assuming his current leadership role. The arc exposed him to supply disputes, complex commercial negotiations, and the realities of global manufacturing operations.

Much of that leadership has unfolded during dynamic years marked by the pandemic and evolving workplace expectations. “Learning how to navigate through that with people who have very different needs, and trying to be responsive and empathetic to that, has been both a challenge and an opportunity.”

 

CREDIBILITY THAT TRAVELS

As Dykema approaches its 100-year milestone, Switalski speaks about his time at the firm with clarity and fondness.

“Oftentimes one of the first questions people ask is, where were you before [Dow]?” he says. “That gives me the opportunity to tell the Dykema story.”

He adds with a laugh, “When you find other Dykema alumni out in the wild, that can be really fun.”

With Dykema’s centennial year underway, what remains for him is not just nostalgia but continuity: the understanding that the standards learned early still shape how he leads, how he decides, and how he carries responsibility forward.

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This conversation is part of Dykema’s Inside Out centennial series. If you are a Dykema alum and would like to share your story, please email alumni@dykema.com