Ann Marie Uetz

Ann Marie Uetz is a partner and trial attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP, and is vice chair of the firm’s national Litigation Department. Practicing for nearly three decades, Ann Marie represents lenders, debtors and creditors in all facets of financing, workouts, and formal restructurings. Ann Marie works with an extensive network of business leaders and professionals, and has been included in Crain’s Most Connected list, highlighted as one of the 100 most connected businesspeople in metro Detroit.

Ann Marie focuses her practice on business litigation and bankruptcy, two of Foley’s practice areas recently ranked by U.S. News—Best Lawyers® as “national First-Tier” practices in recognition of excellence in client service. She is a member of the firm’s Manufacturing Sector including its Automotive Industry Team, and is also a member of Foley’s Finance & Financial Institutions, and Transactions practices.

Much of Ann Marie's work focuses on distressed debt workouts, representing debtors, lenders and related receivers and CROs in all phases of workouts. Ann Marie and her team negotiate and draft loan documents, forbearance agreements, related real estate documents and all documents necessary to protect the client's security interest in collateral securing loan obligations. Ann Marie’s team has led debtor and creditors’ committee interests in multiple industry sectors, including manufacturing, energy and healthcare.

Ann Marie Uetz is an exceptional attorney, and has been pivotal in the support of our organization. . . . Bright, insightful and focused, and an extremely valuable extended member of our team.

— a Foley client, commenting on Ann Marie’s representation for
Best Lawyers in America ©

Ann Marie’s work is integral to Foley’s focus on the manufacturing sector. She is one of the authors of Foley’s Automotive Update, published biweekly and analyzing trends and future developments in the automotive supply chain. Ann Marie has been recognized by the National Law Review as a Go-To Thought Leader in the areas of “Transportation Law” and “COVID-19: Manufacturing Impact.” 

Bankruptcy and Business Litigation Practice

Ann Marie is a former vice chair of the firm’s national Bankruptcy & Business Reorganizations Practice, which BankruptcyLaw360 has fittingly ranked as one of the top ten bankruptcy practices in the nation. Ann Marie represents clients in restructuring, bankruptcy and business disputes across the country. She also advises clients on the strategic sale and acquisition of distressed assets, both inside and outside of the court process. In the manufacturing sector, she provides counsel to customers and suppliers regarding their contracts and their best business position both prior to and after a bankruptcy filing by one of their suppliers or customers.

Ann Marie has extensive and unique knowledge of the manufacturing supply chain, including manufacturing and technology agreements. This includes supply contract negotiations, drafting supply contracts, surcharge and capacity issues, stop-ship situations and pricing disputes. These transactions often include tripartite agreements among the troubled supplier, its significant customers and its secured lenders to solidify the commitments of each party to keep the supplier operating while the workout (or bankruptcy) is progressing. These agreements commonly consist of access and accommodation agreements and subordinated participation agreements. Ann Marie has negotiated these agreements routinely in troubled company situations and is deeply familiar with them and the underlying issues.

Peer Recognition and Awards

Ann Marie has established herself as a go-to business counselor and litigator who partners with her clients. Her work stands apart from many of her peers, and she has been well recognized for her superior legal skills and client service.

• Most notably, Ann Marie has been honored since 2013 in The Best Lawyers in America© for her work in Commercial Litigation, and since 2019 for her work in Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Ann Marie has also been recognized by Leading Lawyers: Top Lawyers in Michigan, including in 2020, in the following areas: bankruptcy & workouts, commercial litigation, and creditor’s rights
• She has been honored since 2008 in the Michigan Super Lawyers® lists for her work in the areas of business litigation, bankruptcy and real estate, following a rigorous selection process involving peer reviews and independent research
• She has been named to DBusiness Magazine’s list of Top Lawyers in the areas of bankruptcy, business law and real estate law – a list that draws nominations from over 21,000 attorneys.
• Ann Marie was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of its 20 Women in the Law for the year 2012
• She has been peer review rated as AV Preeminent®, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ system
• She was named to Crain’s Notable Women Lawyers in Michigan in 2017
• She was named to Crain’s Most Connected List, representing the 100 most connected businesspeople in metro Detroit

Academic and Business Leadership and Board Membership

Ann Marie graduated, with distinction, from the University of Michigan (B.A., political science) in 1989. Ann Marie graduated, magna cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School in 1993, where she received the Eugene Driker Award for achieving the highest grade point average (4.0) in her class. Ann Marie was also selected for the Order of the Coif and served as an associate editor of the Wayne Law Review. Ann Marie is a graduate of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Leadership Detroit XXV.

Ann Marie is admitted to practice before all federal and state courts in the state of Michigan, various federal district and bankruptcy courts throughout the country, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and before the United States Supreme Court.

Ann Marie has held leadership positions on the boards of several professional organizations, including as past chair, officer and board member of MIWIRC (the Michigan Network for International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation). She is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). She has served as a Barrister lecturer by the DMBA Inns of Court program. Within Foley, Ann Marie is committed to mentoring young attorneys, and was honored in 2009 with Foley’s Carl Hitchner Mentor of the Year Award. During high school and college, Ann Marie worked as a summer camp counselor and business manager, respectively, for the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) Girls Camp in Port Sanilac, Michigan.

A lifelong Detroiter, Ann Marie also dedicates her time to philanthropic and artistic endeavors in Southeast Michigan.

• Director on the Board of the Society of Automotive Analysts
• Director on the Board of First Tee of Greater Detroit, whose mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf
• Served as a director on the Board for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2008 through 2014, which tenure included the organization’s overall debt restructuring and reorganization
• Pro bono work for Cap & Conquer, a non-profit startup whose mission is to raise funds to help subsidize Cold Caps, a scalp cooling technology to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy treatment, for those who cannot afford the treatment
• Pro bono work for the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities in Chicago, Illinois, a non-profit voluntary association of organizations supporting services to persons with developmental disabilities
• Ann Marie is a member of the Saugatuck Yacht Club in Saugatuck, Michigan

Illustrative Current and Recent Representation

• Counsel to the Debtors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of Venture Industries, Blue Water Automotive Systems and Intermet Corporation 
• Counsel to secured lender in the loan workout of a tier 1 manufacturing company, including the negotiation of an access and accommodation agreement with one of the Detroit 3 OEMs, forbearance agreement and eventual refinancing to take out and pay her client in full
• Counsel to secured lender regarding the default of a company operating skilled nursing facilities and a related prescription medication service provider in multiple states. Negotiated and finalized an agreement to take out and pay her client in full
• Counsel to secured lender regarding the default of a failed skilled nursing facility in Wisconsin, where Foley is headquartered
• Counsel to senior secured lender in the chapter 11 case In re A.M.S., in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio
• Counsel to the lender and stalking horse purchaser of assets through a 363 sale in the automotive chapter 11 case of Jack Cooper Holdings, Co. (sale approved, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia)
• Counsel to the court-appointed receiver for Wilbanks Energy Logistics, which operated as a full-service energy logistics company until being placed into receivership due to adverse market conditions affecting the oil and gas industry. Less than sixty days after the appointment of her client as the receiver for Wilbanks, Ann Marie led and completed the sale of the assets of Wilbanks and its affiliates, which included a fleet of vehicles, heavy machinery and equipment
• Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 case Capitol Bancorp Ltd., a bank holding company which owns banks across the country (Plan of Reorganization confirmed, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan)
• Counsel to Fortune 500 manufacturer to secure its contained supply of parts from Royal Oak Industries, which was subject to a court-appointed receiver. Before ROI liquidated its assets, Ann Marie negotiated and secured a five-party access and accommodation agreement with the supplier and its lenders, to ensure continued funding in the context of an orderly wind down/sale of assets
• Counsel to senior secured lender in a commercial single-asset foreclosure/bankruptcy case, successfully defending against the debtors’ attack on a claim based on a nonrecourse loan, achieving a favorable ruling resulting in new precedent in the Seventh Circuit. In re B.R. Brookfield Commons No. 1 LLC, 735 F.3d 596 (7th Cir. 2013)
• Counsel to a government-sponsored enterprise in more than 40 class action lawsuits filed in Michigan and across the country involving exemption from payment of real-estate transfer taxes (Published Appellate Decision in favor of Foley’s client: County of Oakland and Andrew E. Meisner; Genesee County and Deborah Cherry, Michigan Department of Attorney General and Michigan Department of Treasury v. Federal Housing Finance Agency, et al., 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 10032, Nos. 12-2135/2136 (6th Cir. May 20, 2013))
• Counsel to a government-sponsored enterprise in connection with the receiver appointments and completed non-judicial foreclosures, and related guaranty litigation, for more than ten properties included in a $300MM national loan portfolio, including the largest multi-family receiver appointment and foreclosure on record in the state of Michigan
• Counsel to an EV startup advising on all aspects of procurement and supply contracts and working to minimize risk
• Counsel to a multi-national technology company advising on the $1BB+ transformation of a manufacturing facility to accomplish vertical integration of certain products, including all procurement contracts related to the transformation
• Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Gissing North America, LLC in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Loves Furniture Inc. in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 automotive bankruptcy case of Shiloh Industries in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

Lectures and Publications

• Panelist, “Dancing with Wolves: The Chase Into Chapter 11,” 34^th Annual FBA Bankruptcy Section Seminar (July 30, 2022)
• Panelist, ACG Detroit’s “Supply Chain Management: Navigating Through ‘Icebergs’…Disruption & Chaos”  (October 5, 2021)
• Panelist, ACG Detroit’s “Supply Chain Management: Navigating Through ‘Icebergs’…Disruption & Chaos”  (October 5, 2021)
• Quoted, “Rubber Scarcity Creates New Headache for Beleaguered Automakers” BNN Bloomberg (April 13, 2021)
• Co-author, “Impacts of COVID-19 on Automotive Suppliers” Foley & Lardner LLP Dashboard Insights (March 16, 2021)
• Co-author, “Choice of law:Insights from Foley & Lardner LLP” National Association of Manufacturers Legal Advisory Council Update (February 3, 2021)
• Quoted, “COVID Prompts Supply Chain Strategy Rethink” Automotive World (January 25, 2021)
• Co-presenter, “Global Supply Chain Disruption and Future Strategies Update,” Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) Chief Purchasing Officers Council Meeting (November 12, 2020)
• Panelist, National Directors Institute NDI Reimagined webcast:“Ready, Set, Zoom: How COVID-19 is Impacting Business Litigation” (November 11, 2020)
• Co-presenter, Association of Corporate Counsel-Michigan webcast:“Restructuring and Managing Financially Troubled Suppliers, Vendors or Customers” (November 5, 2020)
• Quoted, “Nonprofit off to a running start thanks to Midwest legal team” Michigan Lawyers Weekly (November 3, 2020)
• Co-author, “Supply Chain Strategy Trends: COVID-19 is Prompting Executives to Reconsider Resilience” Supply Chain Management Review (November 2, 2020)
• Quoted, “Did COVID-19 poke a hole in just-in-time manufacturing?” Automotive News (October 19, 2020)
• Quoted, “Sound bites from an industry in transition“ Automotive News (October 18, 2020)
• Co-author, “Michigan Supreme Court Sets Limits on Emergency Powers of Governor: Impacts on Residents and Businesses” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (October 4, 2020)
• Co-author, “Accelerating Trends: Assessing the Supply Chain in a Post-Pandemic World” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (September 29, 2020)
• Author, “Calculation of Labor Value Content Under the USMCA” Manufacturing.net (August 27, 2020)
• Co-author, “Working with Distressed Automotive Suppliers” Industry Today (August 14, 2020)
• Co-author, “Strategies for Acquisitions of Distressed Companies” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (July 15, 2020)
• Author, “Top Considerations for Accommodation Agreements with Distressed Suppliers” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (June 10, 2020)
• Author, “Top Considerations for Dealing with Financially Distressed Suppliers” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (June 9, 2020)
• Quoted, “In a Pandemic, Food, Booze and Guns Retain Value Best” The Wall Street Journal (May 6, 2020)
• Co-author, “Reopening the Automotive Industry in Mexico: Rules of the Road” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (April 29, 2020)
• Interviewed, “Coronavirus Q&A: Foley & Lardner's Task Force Head” Law360 (April 21, 2020)
• Quoted, “Speed key as GM, suppliers align on ventilators” Automotive News (April 20, 2020)
• Presenter, Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Webcast: “Managing the Commercial Impact of the Coronavirus: What Claims and Liabilities In-House Counsel Should Expect in the Near Term” (April 16, 2020)
• Quoted, “Automakers Will Need Months to Get Factories Back Up and Running” Bloomberg News (April 15, 2020)
• Co-author, “How to Protect Your Supply Chain in Times of Economic Turbulence” Supply Chain Best Practices (April 14, 2020)
• Presenter, gener8tor Webinar “Federal Relief and Stimulus Programs for Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Crisis” (April 6, 2020)
• Quoted, “Ford and GM are undertaking a warlike effort to produce ventilators. It may fall short and come too late” The Washington Post (April 4, 2020)
• Quoted, “Bankruptcy Lawyers Gear Up for Surge in Filings Due to Coronavirus Fallout” The Wall Street Journal (April 2, 2020)
• Presenter, OESA 2020 Webinar “Managing Business During the COVID-19 Pandemic” (March 26, 2020)
• Quoted, “Automakers' Shift to Med Supplies Comes with Legal Hazards” Law 360 (March 25, 2020)
• Quoted, “Lowe's is open, but the flooring store is not. Call it the toilet paper loophole.” Crain's Detroit Business (March 24, 2020)
• Co-author, “Managing the Commercial Impact of the Coronavirus: What Claims In-house Counsel Should Expect in the Near Future” Foley's Coronavirus Resource Center (March 17, 2020)
• Author, “Coronavirus: Considerations for an Emerging Supply Chain Response Plan” Supplychainbrain.com (March 9, 2020)
• Co-author, “Managing the Commercial Impact of the Coronavirus: An Effective Supply Chain Response Plan” Foley's Coronavirus Resource Center (February 27, 2020)
• Co-author, “GM's Planned Cuts Require Action by Its Suppliers” The National Law Review (December 6, 2018)
• Lecturer regarding avoidance actions under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, at conferences hosted by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the National Association of Credit Managers (NACM)
• Instruction at National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) programs, on Trial, Motion and Deposition Practice