George E. Kuehn has focused his practice solely on business matters—domestically and internationally—over the course of his decades in practice. Clients trust the level of business acumen Mr. Kuehn brings to the table. In addition to his deep expertise in providing legal counsel and representation to businesses, he has served in several executive-level positions at entities in a variety of sizes and sectors. His practice focuses extensively on planning, negotiating, closing, and administering sophisticated business and financing transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity placements. Mr. Kuehn has been recognized numerous times during his career by respected legal publications as a top attorney in Business and Corporate Law in Michigan and nationally.

Overview

George E. Kuehn routinely advises businesses and boards of directors in business and legal scenarios relating to corporate governance, shareholder relations, product distribution, employment and discrimination, sales and marketing, governmental relations, long-term supply arrangements, contract manufacturing arrangements, and litigation and dispute management. In addition to serving clients as outside counsel, Mr. Kuehn has served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of a multibillion dollar group of companies engaged in diverse businesses including the manufacture and worldwide distribution of beverage products, commercial real estate, and biotechnology. His direct senior management role enables him to approach legal issues with perspectives and insights shaped by his considerable business experience.

Mr. Kuehn’s experience includes substantial international and domestic transactions involving acquisitions and divestitures of businesses and tangible and intangible assets, formation and dissolution of joint ventures, exchange of assets, commercial and private credit facilities, publicly held debt instruments, supplier financing, and financial restructuring. The transactions he’s been involved in have taken a variety of forms and encompassed diverse tangential issues including stock, merger, and asset sale transactions, negotiated and hostile transactions, requirements for commercial and publicly held debt modification, pre-packaged bankruptcy, and federal and state antitrust and regulatory approvals.

George Kuehn is Of Counsel to Butzel and is a former Co-Chair of the firm's Corporate and Finance Practice Department, which encompasses Transactional, Finance, Real Estate, and Wealth Management Law matters. Mr. Kuehn rejoined Butzel in 2000 following his tenure at The Stroh Brewery Company where he served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for nearly 20 years. Mr. Kuehn is a director of Besser Company and at various times has served as a director of other companies and as a member and chair of many committees and advisory boards established by the bar, industry groups, private adjudication facilitators, and municipal governments.

Primary Practice Areas

Credentials

Education

University of Michigan Law School 1973, J.D. (cum laude)

University of Michigan 1968, B.B.A.

Admissions

Memberships

  • State Bar of Michigan
  • State Bar of Arizona

Awards & Recognitions

Awards & Recognitions

The Best Lawyers in America®, "Lawyer of the Year," Corporate Law, 2023

The Best Lawyers in America®, Corporate Law, 2007-2025

Michigan Super lawyers, Business/Corporate, 2006-2008, 2010-2017

DBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, Corporate Law, 2011, 2012 & 2015

Experience

  • Represented a machinery company in a sale to an ESOP and related commercial financing
  • Represented pharmaceutical company in numerous intellectual property and product licensing and/or distributing agreements
  • Represented real estate developer in numerous commercial building projects, including related equity sales and ownership agreements
  • Represented foreign IT company in its purchase of US-based computer company
  • Represented Canadian auto supplier in sale of its business
  • Represented numerous US-based large and mid-market privately held companies in connection with sale and purchases of business
  • Represented numerous large and mid-market companies in connection with entity and asset purchase financings

News & Events

News

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