Matt Wilkins advises customers and suppliers, primarily in the automotive industry, on a wide variety of contract issues and disputes.  He has special expertise in the negotiation and documentation of complex supply-chain agreements and asset sales, where either the customer or supplier is financially distressed.  Matt also has a deep background in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights and commercial and business litigation.

Matt is proud of co-founding and helping develop Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco into a preeminent boutique law firm specializing in high stakes litigation, supply chain counseling and advising clients in financial distress situations.  While based in the Detroit area, the firm has a national reach.

Prior to founding Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco in 2009, Matt was a shareholder at Butzel Long in Detroit. Before joining Butzel Long in 1997, he was a partner in the Chicago firm of Coffield, Ungaretti & Harris. Matt is licensed to practice in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.

Representative Experience

  • Daily counseling of customers and suppliers on various aspects of their supply contracts, including terms and conditions, pricing disputes, and force majeure issues.
  • Representation of many automotive suppliers and customers in distress situations, including the negotiation and execution of complex support, restructuring and exit agreements with their contract counterparties.
  • Representation of numerous multi-national Tier One automotive customers in their distressed supplier matters throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.
  • Representation of the Receiver in a large Tier One automotive manufacturer, resulting in a sale as a going concern preserving hundreds of local jobs.
  • Representation of a large, critical Tier One supplier in the restructuring of its Customer relationships, facilitating its sale to an international corporation.
  • Co-counsel for the Official Committee of Retirees in the City of Detroit Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
  • Representation of the Creditors’ Committee of a significant scrap metal dealer in its consensual liquidation.
  • Representation of a distressed aerospace supplier in restructuring the supply agreements with its customers and then the sale of its business as a going concern.
  • Representation of the Creditors’ Committee and the Liquidating Trustee of a manufacturer with over $500,000,000 in liabilities.
  • Representation of real estate developers and guarantors in the negotiation and documentation of workout and discounted payoff agreements.
  • As debtors’ counsel, representation of a substantial Michigan not-for-profit hospital in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ultimate sale as a going concern.
  • Advising boards of directors regarding their fiduciary responsibilities in the insolvencies of subsidiary and related entities.
  • Representation of the purchaser of substantially all of the operating assets of an insolvent solar energy company.
  • Prosecution and defense of many bankruptcy preferential and fraudulent transfer actions.

Education, Professional Associations and Recognitions

  • Indiana University School of Law (J.D., 1983)
  • Vanderbilt University (B.A., 1980)
  • Licensed to practice in Michigan (1997), Illinois (1987) and Indiana (1983)
  • Recognized as a Michigan “Superlawyer” 10+ years
  • Recognized as a Detroit “Top Lawyer” by Hour Detroit Magazine
  • Recognized as a Michigan “Best Lawyer”
  • Martindale-Hubbell “AV” rated
  • Member, American, Michigan and Chicago Bar Associations
  • Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Past-member of the ABA Young Lawyer’s Divisions’ national Executive Council
  • Past-Chair of the Bankruptcy and Professionalism Committees of the Division
  • Past-Chair, Indianapolis Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Committee

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • “Saving the DIA: How the Detroit Institute of Art Survived the City’s Bankruptcy.”
  • What Creditors Should Know About Municipal Bankruptcies – 26th Annual State Bar of Michigan Business Law Institute
  • “Strategies for OEM Insolvencies – P.O. Terms and Conditions”
    • OESA Annual OEM-Supplier Terms and Conditions Conference
  • “Autos and Auto Suppliers: The Nuts and Bolts of Supplier Restructuring”
    • Beard Group Annual Conference on Corporate Reorganization
  • “OEM Insolvency Risks & Strategies”
    • Precision Machined Products Association, Competitive Strategies Seminar
  • “Basics of Bankruptcy”
    • Presented to Detroit Automotive News editors and staff

Personal

  • Past President and current Director, Menonaqua Corporation, Harbor Springs, Michigan
  • Member, Wolverine Sports Club, Cadieux Bicycle Club
  • Past Director and Treasurer, Birmingham Blue Dolphins Swim Club Boosters