The law firm of Michael Best announced that Craig A. Stoehr has joined its Milwaukee office as a partner in the Corporate & Transactional practice. Stoehr will lead the growth of the firm’s international transactional practice group. He has extensive international experience having lived and worked in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, and has facilitated transactions in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Stoehr previously was a corporate partner with Latham & Watkins LLP, where he opened and managed the firm’s Qatar office. He additionally served as General Counsel and Head of M&A at Thomas Cook Group plc, the world’s oldest travel company listed on the London Stock Exchange, and as General Counsel and a member of the Executive Committee at Eastgate Capital Group, a leading private equity firm based in Dubai.
Stoehr has advised clients on almost $45 billion worth of equity and debt capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, investment funds, bank finance, restructuring, and commercial transaction matters, and represented U.S. and foreign public and private companies as well as foreign governments.
“Craig will enhance the breadth of our corporate and transactional services, both locally and internationally,” said David Krutz, Michael Best’s Firm Managing Partner. “With Craig’s arrival, we are building on our ability to meet the international needs of our existing clients, as well as overseas clients doing business in the United States.”
Stoehr’s significant international business and entrepreneurial experiences will bring great insights and benefit to his clients. He previously served as chief executive of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, the world’s premier powerboat racing championship, with events across Europe and the Middle East, and founded and ran several start-ups focused on international soccer.
“There are a lot of questions surrounding global growth and the M&A market this year,” said Bret Roge, Chair of Michael Best’s Corporate & Transactional Practice. “Craig’s US and international experience will benefit the firm during this time and be a great complement to our capital markets and mergers and acquisitions practices to our team here in Milwaukee and our clients across the country.”
Stoehr, who was born and raised in the greater Milwaukee area, came back to Milwaukee from 2005 to 2008, where he led several real estate investments in downtown Milwaukee, served as chairman of The Milwaukee Mile motor speedway located at the Wisconsin State Fair Park, and was involved on the boards of the Marquette University National Sports Law Institute, the Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation, and the Metro Milwaukee American Heart Association.
“When I decided to move back to Milwaukee, I looked for a firm with a leading reputation both in Wisconsin and nationally, one with a solid growth strategy that was in expansion mode, along with the highest quality legal practices,” Stoehr said. “From the outset, I was impressed by Michael Best’s high quality attorneys and firm culture, its recent expansion into new markets, and its regional and national reputation. I look forward to participating in the firm’s continued growth and reestablishing my home in Wisconsin.”
Among Stoehr’s many accolades, he was named to the Milwaukee Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” in 2007 and was the recipient of the Small Business Times “Bravo! Entrepreneur of the Year” award. Additionally, he received the 2014 British Legal Awards “General Counsel of the Year” award, was named to the 2015 Legal Business “UK GC 50 Power List,” was ranked a top lawyer in Qatar by Chambers & Partners, and was named one of the top six debt capital markets lawyers in the Middle East by Middle East Economic Digest.
He received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, and earned his B.A. from the University of Minnesota.