Success Record
Butzel Success Stories. Case Results That Drive Confidence.
Achieving successful results for our clients is our priority, and earning their trust is fundamental to everything we do. We approach each matter with integrity and strategic insight, backed by decades of litigation and transactional experience. We’re deeply committed to achieving the best possible outcome for our clients. Our dedication to Butzel’s Core Values is evidenced in the way we handle each case, no matter the complexity or scope—Excellence. Drive. Trust. Teamwork. We’re a service-oriented firm, dedicated to protecting your interests and guiding you through challenges with confidence and care.
We invite you to review the compilation below of just a few of the successful results we’ve achieved on behalf of our clients:
Corporate
Acquisition: Technology Company
Managed all aspects of due diligence, transaction structuring, regulatory filings, and closing, including an F Reorganization, as lead counsel to global mining technology company, The Weir Group plc and Weir Minerals U.S. Inc., in their acquisition of Townley Engineering and Manufacturing Co., Inc. and Townley Foundry & Machine Co., Inc.
Acquisition: Financial Services Company
Oversaw due diligence, transaction planning, contract negotiation and drafting, and all closing matters as lead counsel to P&M Holding Group, LLP and Plante & Moran, PLLC in their acquisition of the assets of Tonneson + Co., a Massachusetts-based accounting and advisory firm, in furtherance of Plante Moran’s strategic expansion along the East Coast.
Immigration
L-1 Visa, L-2 Visa, Green Card: Automotive Industry Employer
Assisted in securing L-1 status for a managerial engineering employee and L-2 status for the employee’s eligible family members, including a 20-year-old daughter approaching age-out risk, for Standard Motor Products, Inc., a global automotive parts manufacturer. Prepared and filed the family’s green card applications in a timely manner, preserving the daughter’s ability to remain in the US and continue the permanent residence process beyond age 21.
Green Card, Employment Authorization: Financial Services Industry Employer
Managed multiple backlogged green card cases in support of Jackson National Life Insurance Company for India-born employees, including securing timely employment authorization for an employee’s spouse through careful case preparation and coordination with immigration authorities, preventing any lapse in work authorization.
Labor and Employment
Class Action: Education Industry
We defended a university and multiple individual defendants in eight consolidated class actions, now part of multidistrict litigation, involving alleged violations of Title IX, federal computer and communications statutes, and constitutional claims arising from a former assistant football coach’s alleged unauthorized access to student email accounts.
Summary Disposition/Multiple Claims: Education Industry
In a Michigan Court of Claims action alleging wrongful denial of tenure, breach of contract, due process violations, and racial discrimination, we prevailed on behalf of our client, a university and its senior administrators, successfully obtaining summary disposition on all claims and asserting preclusive effects in related federal litigation.
Litigation
International Class Action: Automotive Industry
As lead counsel to Denso, a global automotive components manufacturer headquartered in Japan, we coordinated the defense of nationwide and Canadian class action litigation arising from fuel pump recalls involving multiple OEMs, with several US settlements approved, and remaining US and Canadian matters ongoing.
Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation: Financial Services
We achieved successful resolution saving our client, a Panamanian bank, millions of dollars, while serving as lead defense counsel in a long-running, multi-jurisdictional litigation matter arising from the liquidation of a feeder fund connected to the Bernard L. Madoff Ponzi scheme.
Mediation
Class Action: Municipal
We successfully conducted multi-session mediation in a class action regarding the safety of drinking water in Benton Harbor, achieving a settlement after approximately three years of litigation in Federal Court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Wrongful Conviction
We mediated a high-profile Federal Court case in Detroit involving a former police officer’s wrongful incarceration claim, which had resulted in a $58 million verdict, successfully achieving a settlement and attracting significant media attention due to the defendant’s status as a Michigan State Police trooper.
Real Estate
Urban Land Development
We are assisting in multiple areas, including land acquisition, financing, construction and development contracts, city approvals, and bond negotiations, in our representation of Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, in development of a new seven-story, 100,000-square-foot facility featuring performance halls, studios, offices, and a public welcome center, with projected annual economic impact of $50–60 million.
White-Collar
Antitrust Investigation
We successfully negotiated a plea agreement and secured a non-custodial probationary sentence in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in representation of an owner of an asphalt company in a US Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigation concerning alleged price fixing.
