Dykema has added a new lawyer to its Detroit office.
William Kohler joins the firm as senior counsel in the corporate finance department. Kohler has vast experience in the automotive industry, and most recently worked at chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Dura Automotive Systems.
Kohler reflected on opportunities present in the automotive industry in an interview with IFLR1000. “The automotive industry, for the last several years, has been on a distinct upswing. This has created a different set of opportunities for lawyers than during the chaotic years surrounding the Great Recession."
"Many of the new opportunities are transactional, and many reflect the accelerating trend toward embedding sophisticated technology in vehicles,” he said referencing autonomous vehicles as an example.
”I’m looking forward to the realisation of these technologies because they will be transformational. The major shift toward these technologies creates interesting opportunities for lawyers to become involved in deals and issues, like liability risk management, that emanate from them.”
Kohler had previously worked at Johnson Controls (in charge of the company’s automotive operations) from 2000 to 2006 and Butzel Long where he also co-chaired the global automotive practice group.