Butzel Long Announces New Alliance Offices in Mexico City and Monterrey.

DETROIT -- The law firm of Butzel Long has established two new Alliance offices in Mexico in the cities of Mexico City and Monterrey. The firm has two existing Alliance offices in Shanghai and Beijing, and nine offices in Michigan, Florida, Washington D.C. and New York City.

The new Alliance offices in Mexico are the result of a formalized relationship between Butzel Long and the law firm of Gil Elorduy, Yarritu y Asociados (GILYA). The firm has been working professionally with partners Francisco Gil and Sergio Yarritu for more than 13 years.

"The establishment of our Mexico Alliance offices defines a new era of our long-time professional relationship with the GILYA firm, and the high level of respect we have for Francisco and Sergio," stated Philip J. Kessler, Butzel Long Chairman. "A growing number of our clients have increasing needs in Mexico, especially in the automotive sector. By establishing Alliance offices in Mexico, we have enhanced the resources and service levels available to our clients."

Butzel Long has a long-established practice focused on Mexico. Butzel Long lawyer Marie Alsace Galindo is the only Mexican attorney certified by the State Bar of Michigan to advise on Mexican law. Ms. Galindo is based in the firm's Detroit office and serves as international practice advisor on Mexican and Latin America legal and business issues.

"Marie's experience and professional relationships both in Mexico and in the Mexican business community here in Michigan and throughout the Midwest offers an advantage to our clients," said Jim Bruno, Butzel Long shareholder who oversees the firm's Mexican project. "She has cultivated strong relationships with several important Mexican business and industry groups, with an emphasis on automotive and manufacturing organizations. We have been able to provide real value to companies with existing cross-border operations, or those considering such moves."

Automotive suppliers are enjoying a record year of sales in the first half of 2007 according to Mexico's national supplier association, known as INA, and as reported in the Automotive News trade journal.

In July of this year, Ms. Galindo moderated a Finance and Employment panel discussion in Mexico City at the International Conference of the Automotive Industry (CIIAM), which was attended by nearly 400 automotive industry executives. Butzel Long attorneys Craig Schwartz (labor and employment) and Matt Wilkins (corporate restructuring and financially troubled suppliers) participated as members of the panel.

Butzel Long offers a wide array of services to companies interested in doing business in Mexico. Areas such as corporate, foreign investment and trade, tax, maquiladoras (Mexico factories along the United States/ Mexico border), joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, labor, immigration, intellectual property, logistics and transportation, corporate financing, litigation and government relations are included as part of the firm's offerings.

Butzel Long is one of the oldest and largest law firms in the United States with headquarters in Michigan. It was established in 1854, and today has 225 attorneys at offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Holland, Mich., New York City, Washington, D.C., Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Fla., as well as Alliance offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China and Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. The firm represents clients from diverse industries on regional, national and multinational levels, and is the sole Michigan member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.