Automotive & Mobility
Morgan Lewis understands that the automotive industry today is more dynamic, competitive, and challenging than at any point in its history. From securing our clients’ critical innovations to helping them navigate emerging global legal and regulatory issues, we provide advice critical to their success in this complex environment. As a cross-border, full-service law firm, Morgan Lewis anticipates and quickly responds to the many challenges faced by our automotive clients.
We have represented virtually every major automaker, as well as component manufacturers, technology suppliers, distributors, and two influential trade associations, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers. We advise on all facets of a vehicle’s life cycle—from patenting, design, and procurement through manufacturing, sales, distribution, and marketing. Our involvement with cutting-edge issues such as driverless vehicle development, privacy and cybersecurity, and new sales and distribution models enables us to provide guidance that our clients need to excel wherever their creativity takes them.
We provide transactional support, regulatory advice, and a broad range of litigation, antitrust, environmental, labor and employment, intellectual property, privacy and security, tax, and finance services.
Litigation & Antitrust
We represent automotive companies in litigation and government investigations, product liability class actions, and appeals, including individual and class action antitrust matters, terminations, add points and other dealer disputes, environmental compliance matters, tax disputes, and consumer protection litigation. We represent automotive companies in investigations at all levels of government in the United States and before international and national government bodies, including the European Commission.
Labor & Employment
Morgan Lewis helps automotive clients manage their sizeable and diverse workforces. We handle large-scale employee transfers; counsel on the full range of benefits, healthcare, and human resources issues; provide guidance on union matters; and defend individual and class employment litigation and government enforcement matters, including before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. We also provide employment services to automotive clients, including ones with global footprints whose workforce management practices are governed by a variety of laws and regulatory regimes.
Intellectual Property
As intense competition drives innovation, we help our clients protect and profit from their unique IP and branding and advertising programs. With backgrounds in engineering and computer science, our lawyers advise on the full spectrum of IP-related matters. We prosecute patents; draft and negotiate license agreements and commercial contracts relating to all aspects of IP; handle transactions and due diligence; register trademarks and copyrights; and litigate IP cases. We also are skilled in negotiating inbound and outbound FRAND license agreements involving standard essential patents (SEPs) for wireless and wired technologies.
Acquisitions & Transactions
Our automotive industry and automotive technology knowledge complements our skills representing clients in product and corporate acquisitions, joint ventures, and licensing of vehicle technology. We also advise automotive companies on outsourcing of services and product development and manufacture, and on real estate matters involving corporate, manufacturing, and warehouse properties.
