Automotive

Our attorneys have the experience to handle your corporate transactions. We regularly counsel tier-one and other automotive companies regarding multibillion-dollar acquisitions, spin-off transactions, asset securitization transactions, bankruptcy sales, and negotiation of long-term supply contracts to support the acquired business after closing.

We counsel clients regarding the entire range of IP needs, and can help you create valuable patent portfolios, leverage your IP assets, or purchase IP rights from others. We also help structure transactions and maximize the value of your patent portfolios while protecting your assets.

Our attorneys manage significant IT and outsourcing transactions. We assist clients with the unique challenges of outsourcing, including structuring and executing transactions that comply with both national and international regulatory requirements.

Depending on the nature of the business dispute, litigation may or may not be the best solution. We offer a full range of assistance, including litigation management, mediation, and arbitration counseling. With our experience in all forms of supply chain litigation, including raw materials and pricing disputes, we understand the conflicts clients regularly face and help clients find a workable solution. We also provide contract support to our clients, including help with contract formation and dispute resolution within the automotive supply chain. The Automotive Industry Team’s thorough understanding of the complex laws that define supplier relationships can help you navigate the full range of supplier issues in whatever form they arise. Our team includes the author of Michigan Contract Law, the leading treatise on the law governing many automotive supply contracts in North America.

We counsel you on some of the most challenging and sensitive areas in the industry — the legal and business issues surrounding employment law, labor unions, pensions, and benefits. We have solid experience in advising auto suppliers with complex labor and employment issues involving union bargaining, grievances, and strikes, wage and hour issues, discrimination, and disability management, We act as special labor and employment counsel, serve as exclusive debtor counsel in Chapter 11 proceedings, and help establish highly complex, “mirror” pension and other benefit plans. Our team will provide you with efficient and organized case management reporting that will permit instant case status and metrics.

Automotive companies are subject to complex federal, state, local, and foreign regulatory requirements. Our Automotive team includes attorneys who are well versed on the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (NHTSA) and the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act, as well as other federal and local regulation aimed at the automotive industry. For multinational automotive companies, we offer risk management and counseling focused on the full range of U.S. regulation of exports and international conduct, including risks posed by the export control, economic sanctions, anti-boycott, and FCPA laws.

To help ensure compliance with ever-changing federal and state regulations, we provide strategic communications counseling and issue management, and represent you before all major U.S. regulatory agencies such as the NHTSA, the Departments of Commerce and State, the U.S. Congress, and numerous state legislatures. Our attorneys and public policy professionals also can advise regarding a wide range of political law services, including federal lobbying and campaign finance programs. Through our Brussels office, we can counsel you regarding European Union regulatory compliance issues.

Reorganizations, bankruptcies, and dealing with troubled suppliers can put tremendous pressure on troubled companies. We work closely with clients to set clear expectations and achievable goals. We craft strategies to help troubled companies reorganize, protect value, and ensure continuity of supply, including by acting as debtor counsel for Chapter 11 filings, special labor counsel for suppliers, creditor committee counsel, and special transaction counsel. Our clients tell us that our Automotive attorneys serve as a seamless extension of their internal team to maintain “business as usual” in very unusual circumstances.