Butzel Attorney and Shareholder Lee T. Silver to Receive Two Prestigious Legal Industry Awards
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Butzel attorney Lee T. Silver is being honored by the State Bar of Michigan Negligence Section and will receive the “Distinguished Mediator Award” on August 20 during the Annual Meeting and Award Reception. Silver also has been named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Hall of Fame Class of 2026. He is among the attorneys who will be honored on March 27 and profiled in a future edition of Michigan Lawyers Weekly. The Hall of Fame program recognizes Michigan’s legal leaders who have been in practice for 30 years for their successful careers and valuable contributions to the community.
Silver is an accomplished trial lawyer, mediator, and arbitrator. He is consistently ranked as one of the top attorneys in Michigan based on peer review, has successfully handled numerous high-profile cases, and is highly sought after as a mediator and arbitrator. Silver serves as a Managing Shareholder of Butzel’s Grand Rapids office and is Co-Chair of the firm's Mediation and Arbitration Specialty Team.
Silver’s practices focus on commercial litigation and “bet-the-company” litigation. He has successfully handled complex commercial disputes of virtually every type over the past 40 years in state and federal courts throughout Michigan and across the United States. His representative clients range from Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, manufacturers, and closely held companies of all sizes to individual business owners, shareholders, executives, professionals, and others. Silver has been asked to represent other attorneys and law firms on numerous occasions in a wide variety of commercial or business disputes (as opposed to legal malpractice cases), including cases involving partnership disputes, breach of contract, fraud, defamation, employment disputes, lender liability, commercial lease disputes, and other issues.
In addition to his litigation practice, Silver also has a very busy mediation and arbitration practice as he serves as a mediator and arbitrator throughout Michigan and nationally. He is one of only three mediators in Michigan to be selected as a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and also has been selected as a member of the American Arbitration Association’s (AAA) prestigious Master Mediator Panel, which is comprised of AAA’s top mediators as rated by attorneys that handle large complex disputes. Also, he has been selected as a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, has been on the approved list of mediators for the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan since 2023, and regularly serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and in many private arbitrations. Silver has mediated and/or arbitrated cases for virtually every law firm in Michigan with an active litigation practice, many Am Law 100 firms, and some of the top specialized litigation boutique firms in the country.
Silver has successfully mediated over 2,000 cases and takes great pride in the fact that an extremely high percentage of the cases he mediates settle as a result of the mediation. As a mediator, Silver approaches every matter extremely well prepared, and he is known for his tenacity and his ability to settle the most difficult cases by never giving up and believing that every case can be settled. As a trial lawyer with more than 40 years of experience who has litigated well over 1,000 cases, mediated over 2,000 disputes, served as an arbitrator in over 125 matters, and has earned the highest rankings from his peers for his legal ability, Silver is uniquely qualified to analyze a case and help the parties reach a settlement.
Silver earned a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law and a B.A. with honors, from the University of Redlands.
