Richard Walawender is Co-Leader of the firm’s Corporate Group, leads the firm’s Autonomous and Connected Vehicles practice team and plays an essential role in the firm’s International practice. He also served as a managing director of the firm from 2001 to 2003.
Corporate Law
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, private equity and hedge funds, financial institutions, privately held companies, start-ups and technology ventures. He acts as general counsel for several clients, and special corporate counsel to domestic and international companies, and represents many clients in structuring their cross-border operations and closing transactions.
Automotive Industry
As a leader of the firm’s Automotive Practice, Richard coordinates the firm’s 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. More recently, he has spearheaded the firm’s representation of traditional auto companies as well as new software companies entering into the exciting autonomous vehicle sector of the auto industry, and has led the effort in establishing Miller Canfield as a legal pioneer in this area.
International
As a leader in 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.
