Butzel Long Serves as Special Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of General Motors Corporation
8.17.2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nation's Leading Automotive Law Practice Committed to Helping Challenged Industry
New York, NY – Butzel Long, whose Global Automotive Team is among the nation's leading automotive law practices, has been retained, with Bankruptcy Court approval, by the Committee of Unsecured Creditors of General Motors Corporation to serve as special counsel. In this role, the firm is representing the committee on matters requiring specialized bankruptcy expertise and expert knowledge and capability regarding the automotive industry generally, and on matters where the committee's primary counsel, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, is conflicted.
Barry N. Seidel, a nationally reknowned bankruptcy lawyer the firm recently recruited to its New York office, is leading the engagement. The firm was instrumental in developing the procedures to protect the rights of thousands of suppliers and other GM contract parties in connection with the assignment of their respective contracts to New GM. In addition, on behalf of the committee, Butzel Long's Eric B. Fisher last month commenced a lawsuit against more than 300 lenders to avoid a security interest securing approximately $1.5 billion of indebtedness. Robert Sidorsky, with expertise in bankruptcy litigation and the automotive industry dating back to the DeLorean Motors bankruptcy, is an additional member of the team.
"The firm's deep roots and long experience representing the automotive market from its origins in Michigan, combined with our strong bankruptcy practice and growing foothold in New York, makes us the ideal choice to advise the unsecured creditors," said Philip J. Kessler, chairman of Butzel Long. "As the industry works through this massive restructuring, we are committed to protecting our clients' interests and helping them resolve disputes as efficiently and effectively as possible."
Butzel Long's Global Automotive Team, a cross-disciplinary practice comprised of attorneys from a variety of practice areas including the firm’s significant Bankruptcy Practice, has long provided representation to over one-third of the largest automotive industry suppliers and numerous others. Butzel Long counsels automotive clients on legal and business issues throughout the United States and in strategic markets around the world. The Firm's global capabilities and experience include assignments for clients from developed markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Canada, as well as emerging markets such as China, India and Mexico. The Firm maintains a comprehensive website with legal analyses and information relevant to the automotive industry.
About Butzel Long
Butzel Long is one of America's leading law firms, with 240 attorneys and offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as Alliance offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City and Monterrey. The firm is also a member of the Washington, D.C. law firm Butzel Long Tighe Patton PLLC. Butzel Long represents clients from diverse industries on a regional, national and multi-national level and is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.
Contact: Hannah Arnold/Suzanne Hallberg, 212-575-4545
Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Inc.
Public Relations
New York, NY – Butzel Long, whose Global Automotive Team is among the nation's leading automotive law practices, has been retained, with Bankruptcy Court approval, by the Committee of Unsecured Creditors of General Motors Corporation to serve as special counsel. In this role, the firm is representing the committee on matters requiring specialized bankruptcy expertise and expert knowledge and capability regarding the automotive industry generally, and on matters where the committee's primary counsel, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, is conflicted.
Barry N. Seidel, a nationally reknowned bankruptcy lawyer the firm recently recruited to its New York office, is leading the engagement. The firm was instrumental in developing the procedures to protect the rights of thousands of suppliers and other GM contract parties in connection with the assignment of their respective contracts to New GM. In addition, on behalf of the committee, Butzel Long's Eric B. Fisher last month commenced a lawsuit against more than 300 lenders to avoid a security interest securing approximately $1.5 billion of indebtedness. Robert Sidorsky, with expertise in bankruptcy litigation and the automotive industry dating back to the DeLorean Motors bankruptcy, is an additional member of the team.
"The firm's deep roots and long experience representing the automotive market from its origins in Michigan, combined with our strong bankruptcy practice and growing foothold in New York, makes us the ideal choice to advise the unsecured creditors," said Philip J. Kessler, chairman of Butzel Long. "As the industry works through this massive restructuring, we are committed to protecting our clients' interests and helping them resolve disputes as efficiently and effectively as possible."
Butzel Long's Global Automotive Team, a cross-disciplinary practice comprised of attorneys from a variety of practice areas including the firm’s significant Bankruptcy Practice, has long provided representation to over one-third of the largest automotive industry suppliers and numerous others. Butzel Long counsels automotive clients on legal and business issues throughout the United States and in strategic markets around the world. The Firm's global capabilities and experience include assignments for clients from developed markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Canada, as well as emerging markets such as China, India and Mexico. The Firm maintains a comprehensive website with legal analyses and information relevant to the automotive industry.
About Butzel Long
Butzel Long is one of America's leading law firms, with 240 attorneys and offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as Alliance offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City and Monterrey. The firm is also a member of the Washington, D.C. law firm Butzel Long Tighe Patton PLLC. Butzel Long represents clients from diverse industries on a regional, national and multi-national level and is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.
Contact: Hannah Arnold/Suzanne Hallberg, 212-575-4545
Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Inc.
Public Relations
