During its efforts to secure economic incentives for its $1 billion manufacturing plant near Chattanooga, Volkswagen AG steered legal questions to Balch & Bingham partner Alex Leath.
Now the question becomes, what law firm will the German auto giant pick as its regular outside counsel for future matters in the U.S.? Balch is a contender for the prize assignment, Leath said. Chattanooga-based Miller & Martin is also bidding on the VW job, according to attorneys familiar with the law firm's plans.
Additionally, lawyers are also scrambling to represent other local governments in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama that wish to lure suppliers that want to locate near VW’s first U.S.-based manufacturing plant, Leath said.
Leath, who is based in Birmingham, Ala., is not a newcomer to this type of legal work. Leath’s resume includes a stint advising the state of Alabama on negotiating incentives with Mercedes-Benz for a plant in Vance, Ala.; and another project advising Toyota on its plans for an assembly facility in Mississippi. His clients have also included Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Motors.
“Probably no lawyer in the Southeast has benefited from the re-industrialization of the South more than the one you’re talking to,” said Leath [photo, right].
In addition to the winning site in southeastern Tennessee, VW also looked at sites in Alabama and Michigan. Leath advised VW on the site-selection process and has continued advising VW on implementing its economic-incentive package and on negotiating details on construction agreements.
Among the incentives is a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, in which Volkswagen has agreed to pay 29.23 percent of its Hamilton County, Tenn. property taxes between 2010 and 2039, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. After that, VW will pay 100 percent of its property tax bill.
VW’s plant will be located at the 1,300-acre Enterprise South industrial park east of Chattanooga. The 1.9 million-square-foot plant will build mid-sized sedans for the North American market, is expected to employ about 2,000 people, and is projected to begin operations in 2011, according to the Times Free Press.
Leath led a team of about 45 lawyers from Balch in a slew of practice areas, including environmental, real estate, labor and employment, corporate, tax, utilities, and railroad and trucking regulations. The Balch lawyers were spread out among the firm’s offices in Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., and in Jackson, Miss.
Other attorneys who were involved in the economic-benefits package offered to VW, according to Leath, include: Miller & Martin partner Evan Allison in Chattanooga, who advised Hamilton County on real estate issues; Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor; Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development General Counsel Stephanie Tisdale; and Chattanooga City Attorney Randy Nelson.