Christian G. Steinmetz is a partner with Foley & Lardner. He is a member of the firm's Transactional & Securities, Commercial Transactions & Business Counseling and International Practices. His practice is concentrated in the following areas:
· Representing clients in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other business combinations
· Representing clients in financial transactions, including private equity financing, venture capital, senior and subordinated debt transactions, leases and other secured transactions
· Representing banks and other financial institutions on the regulation of their fiduciary and corporate activities, including the management of collective investment funds and the sponsorship and use of proprietary registered mutual funds
· Counseling businesses and their owners on general corporate and commercial matters, such as general contract law, distribution arrangements, executive compensation planning and licensing and transfers of trademarks, patents and other intellectual property
· Counseling clients on the effective use of ownership and management techniques and business succession, with an emphasis on shareholder agreements, voting trusts and creative use of sophisticated succession planning techniques
Mr. Steinmetz serves as general counsel for privately held clients and works directly with owners, managers, and operating personnel on a daily basis to satisfy his clients' legal needs. He also represents a number of large publicly held companies, some with in-house legal staff, whom he advises in all areas of his practice, but in particular mergers, acquisitions, and licensing matters.
Mr. Steinmetz has been Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system.
Mr. Steinmetz's professional affiliations include memberships in the Milwaukee Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin and American Bar Association. He also is active in community affairs and currently serves as a director of Lad Lake, Inc., a residential center for troubled youth, as a director of Milwaukee Catholic Home, Inc., a residential and health care organization serving senior citizens, and as general counsel for the Milwaukee Ballet Company.
Mr. Steinmetz graduated, Phi Beta Kappa, with a bachelor's degree in economics in the honors program at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, where he also received a master's degree in economics. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison law school in 1982, where he was elected the Order of the Coif. He also was an editor and published author with the Wisconsin Law Review.