Butzel officially adds Grand Rapids office effective January 1, 2023
Attorneys enhance Butzel’s litigation expertise; law firm to add attorneys and services soon to west Michigan office
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Butzel, one of Michigan’s leading law firms, is growing, and has officially added a Grand Rapids office effective January 1, 2023. The addition of Lee T. Silver, Michael L. Gutierrez and J. Terrance Dillon, most recently with Silver & Van Essen P.C., will expand Butzel’s litigation practice, with the intent to grow the new location into a full-service office with the addition of more attorneys.
“We are excited to start 2023 with the addition of Butzel’s Grand Rapids office,” said Paul Mersino, who takes over as Butzel’s next President and CEO in March 2023 at the firm’s Annual Meeting. “We are focused on growing as a firm. We already have clients who conduct business in west Michigan, and this will allow us to better serve them while also broadening our client base.”
About Lee T. Silver
Lee Silver is an experienced trial lawyer who has a long record of obtaining outstanding results for his clients. He has successfully handled complex commercial litigation cases over the past 38 years in state and federal courts throughout Michigan and well over a dozen other states.
He is widely recognized for his success in the courtroom and has received several honors for his work as a trial lawyer based on peer review, including being named by “Michigan Super Lawyers” as one of the top 100 attorneys in the State of Michigan in 2021 and 2022 and being named by “Best Lawyers in America” as the 2023 Lawyer of the Year for Bet-the-Company Litigation in Grand Rapids.
Moreover, Silver has an active mediation/alternative dispute resolution practice. He is one of only three Mediators in Michigan to be selected as a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and has been selected as a member of the American Arbitration Association’s prestigious Master Mediator Panel, which is comprised of AAA’s top Mediator’s as rated by attorneys that handle large complex disputes.
About Michael L. Gutierrez
Michael Gutierrez joins Butzel as one of the Managing Shareholders of its new Grand Rapids office. He handles complex litigation matters and disputes for businesses and individuals throughout Michigan and nationally.
Gutierrez advises business owners and officers in litigation arising out of equity interest valuation and corporate governance disputes, including claims of shareholder and member oppression, breaches of fiduciary duties, errors and omissions of company officers and directors, and breaches of restrictive covenants.
He also represents businesses and individuals in administrative proceedings, internal investigations, and the defense of claims arising out of the False Claims Act, federal banking regulations, federal labor regulations, as well as state regulatory and antifraud statutes.
About J. Terrance Dillon
Terry Dillon is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and commercial litigation. After graduating from law school, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, handling numerous criminal prosecutions involving tax evasion and fraud by government contractors.
Dillon also pursues and defends the interests of family businesses, closely-held companies, public corporations, and individuals in minority shareholder oppression, breach of contract, business torts, and other commercial disputes.
