Michael is a midlevel associate in the firm’s tax practice. He advises clients on a range of tax matters, including private equity mergers and acquisitions, private investment fund formation, secondary transactions, reorganizations and tax structuring for various transactions. He focuses primarily on the structuring, operation and investments of private equity, real estate and secondaries.

Prior to joining Akin, Michael was an associate at two international law firms in New York City working on mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy tax, executive compensation and employment, and tax controversy matters. He also served as a general attorney in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Chief Counsel's Honors Program and as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Michael B. Thornton at the United States Tax Court. Prior to law school and during law school, he worked as a tax accountant in the real estate industry at several leading accounting firms.

Michael received his J.D. magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, where he was an associate editor and notes & articles editor for the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law and he earned the Milton Young Prize for excellence in taxation. During law school, he participated in Fordham’s Federal Tax Clinic. He also earned his B.S. in accounting summa cum laude and M.S. in taxation from the University at Albany and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law. Michael is a certified public accountant (CPA) in the State of New York.

Michael maintains an active pro bono practice, helping low-income individuals obtain governmental assistance benefits and prevent eviction, assisting clients with legal name changes and advising nonprofit organizations on obtaining federal income tax exempt status.