David LaGrand was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 13, 1966. He began studies at Calvin College in 1984 and he supported himself throughout his higher education by starting his first business, a construction firm. During his time at Calvin College, David was actively involved in the student newspaper and created and funded a minority scholarship fund with other student leaders.
David graduated from Calvin College in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. After graduate work in History at the University of Michigan, David earned a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1992. When David returned to Grand Rapids, he worked at Warner, Norcross & Judd before serving for eight years as an Assistant Kent County Prosecutor. In the prosecutor’s office, David concentrated on upholding convictions on appeal and on prosecuting domestic violence crimes.
In 2000, David joined Gerald Lykins to form a private law firm. In 2007, he joined with Chris Yates and Paul Denenfeld to form Yates, LaGrand and Denenfeld PLLC. Some of his greatest achievements involve working with his clients and their community to seek socially responsible solutions to the breach of law.
David has also been active in the West Michigan business community. Shortly after returning to Grand Rapids in early 1994, David and Melissa and two college friends opened the successful Four Friends Coffee Shop in downtown Grand Rapids, at the leading edge of what has been a rapid revitalization of downtown.
In 2002, the LaGrands and their neighbors opened the Wealthy Street Bakery in another revitalizing area of Grand Rapids. In 2013, the LaGrands and partners opened Long Road Distillers, which operates a distillery and restaurants in Grand Rapids and Grand Haven.
David served as Grand Rapids City Commission for the Second Ward between 2007 and 2010, helping the city through difficult economic times. David served as a State Representative between 2015 and 2022, where he was committed to building bipartisan consensus to achieve justice and opportunity for everyone. David authored and introduced Michigan’s Clean Slate Laws and reforms to Child Protective Services to help keep families together and good parents off of a government watch-list.
David lives in Grand Rapids with his wife Melissa. They have four children, John (29), Issac (26), Helen (21), and Julia (18). He and his family are members of Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church.
