Richard A. Walawender

Principal

walawender@millercanfield.com

Detroit
T: +1.313.496.7628
O: +1.313.963.6420
F: +1.313.496.8450

New York
T: +1.212.704.4411
O: +1.212.704.4400
F: +1.212.704.4410

Richard A. Walawender heads the firm's Corporate Group. He is also the director of the firm’s International Practice and Automotive Practice and has served as a managing director of the firm from 2001 to 2003. His practice specialties include mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial law, corporate governance and securities, private equity, venture capital, equity and debt financing, international transactions and joint ventures, project finance, and franchising.

His clients include publicly traded companies, investment funds, including private equity and hedge funds, financial institutions, privately held companies, and corporate governing boards. Most recently he has been involved in co-leading the firm's International Emerging Markets Practice Team.

As director of the firm’s Automotive Practice, Richard coordinates the attorneys specializing in the full range of legal issues affecting clients involved in the automotive industry. He has a wealth of experience in representing both strategic (OEM and tier suppliers) as well as private equity clients on automotive industry transactions, including mergers, dispositions, acquisitions, Section 363 acquisitions in bankruptcy, joint ventures and alliances, contract drafting negotiations and disputes, licensing, recapitalizations and refinancings, and distressed supplier/customer dealings.

As director of the firm’s International Practice he has also been the lead attorney on numerous multinational M&A transactions for U.S., Canadian, European, Asian, Mexican, and other non-U.S. clients. He co-founded the firm’s Polish partnership in 1991 and served as the lead attorney on the first corporate commercial paper issuance of a U.S. company in Eastern Europe, as well as on the establishment and capitalization of Solidarity Bank, one of the first private commercial banks in Poland. He frequently advises clients on outbound and inbound investment structuring and strategies, international joint ventures and strategic alliances, as well as FCPA, CFIUS, export controls, and other cross-border issues and disputes. His practice involves international law generally, but he has especially focused on Emerging Market economies, including the BRIC countries, Mexico, Eastern Europe, and Korea.

Representative Matters

Chinese Investment Group Acquisition
Represented Beijing-based Pacific Century Motors, Inc. on its acquisition of Nexteer Automotive from General Motors Co.
Mexican Automotive Supplier Acquisition
Represented Mexican auto supplier Metalsa SA de CV in the $150 million acquisition of the structural products business from US-based Dana Holding Corp.
Norwegian Automotive Supplier Acquisition
Represented Norway-based Kongsberg Automotive ASA in the acquisition of Global Motion Systems from Teleflex Inc. for $560 million.

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
International Bar Association
State Bar of Michigan
New York State Bar Association
Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
Oakland County Planning & Economic Development, Business Roundtable Committee, Appointed, 2006

Honors + Awards

Best Lawyers, International Trade and Finance Law 2012
European Legal Experts 2010, Real Estate and Corporate + M&A
DBusiness Magazine, Commercial Law, 2010
Michigan Super Lawyers, Mergers & Acquisitions, 2009
Crain's Detroit Business, "90 for the 90s," 1990

Civic, Cultural + Social Activities

Meadowbrook Concours d'Elegance, Board of Directors, 2007-2009
Orchard Lake Schools, Board of Regents, 2008-present
Madonna University, Chairman, Board of Trustees, 2005-2008; Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, 2002-2004
Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences
Cornerstone Schools Association, Secretary and Legal Counsel, 1990-1996

Publications

Books

The Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Law, (Co-translators Maja Binkowska and Karolina Niemirska-Fido) C.H. Beck, 2010

The Code of Administrative Proceedings (Co-translators Maja Binkowska and Andrzej Chelchowski), C.H. Beck, 2010

Articles

"Poland's Revised Bankruptcy, Reorganization Law," (Co-author Karolina Niemirska-Fido), American Bankruptcy Institute, June 2010

"Europe," Co-Author with Andrzej Chelchowski, The International Lawyer, American Bar Association, Volume 4, Number 2, Summer 2009

"Directors' Duties for Corporations Near Insolvency," Miller Canfield Corporate Law Bulletin, October 2008

"Legal Considerations in Exit Strategies: IPO vs. Sale," in Harry Cendrowski, et al., eds., Private Equity (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2008) pp. 357-398

"Licensing Option for U.S. Companies Doing Business Abroad," Crain's Detroit Business, June 1995

"Bonding and Finance for Municipalities in Poland," series of articles printed in Wspolnota Polska (Poland), 1995

"At-large Elections, A Quantitative Analysis, Note," Journal of Law Reform, March 1986; reprinted in Roger L. Kemp, ed., Local Government Election Practices (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006)

"Polish Diplomacy During the Second World War, Review Article," The Polish Review, June 1984

Seminars + Events

Articles

News

View full profile