John is a Managing Director and General Counsel of AlixPartners, a global restructuring, consulting, and financial advisory firm. In that role, he is responsible for the firm’s legal matters and assisting in risk management.
Before joining AlixPartners, John was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Champion Enterprises, Inc., a leader in factory-built construction. As Champion’s chief legal officer, he had responsibilities for corporate transactions, acquisitions, capital finance, corporate governance, SEC compliance, business ethics, and litigation. For a time, he also managed Champion’s human resources and real estate development activities.
Prior to that, John spent 20 years at the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, where was a Senior Principal, Managing Director and Resident-in-Charge of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office (now in Troy). At Miller Canfield, he maintained a practice specializing in business planning and federal tax with a client base of public and private companies involved in manufacturing, communications, sports, and entertainment.
John holds a bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College and his J.D. with honors from Wayne State University Law School. He received his LL.M. in taxation from the University of Florida Law School where he graduated first in his class and was awarded the Mershon Sawyer Award for outstanding scholastic achievement.
For several years, John was a faculty member at Wayne State University Law School teaching business planning and tax courses. He also served on the faculty of Walsh College of Business and Accountancy, and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School participating in a class on crisis management for the general counsel.
John is the Past-Chairperson of the Taxation Section Council of the State Bar of Michigan. He has been a frequent speaker and presenter for the Business, Taxation, Real Estate, Estate Planning & Probate Sections of the State Bar of Michigan, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Corporate Legal Times, the Michigan Association of CPAs, the Arizona Society of CPAs, Glasser Legal Works, and the Cambridge Institute. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles and publications in the fields of taxation, business, planning, and mergers and acquisitions.