Michael Meissner’s practice focuses primarily on the area of corporate federal income tax, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation and financial instruments. Michael also has significant experience representing tax exempt organizations as well as extensive experience in structuring corporate transactions including the representation of corporate clients before the Appeals Office and National Office of the IRS. Michael is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for more than 10 years. He has also been listed by Thomson Reuters as an Ohio Super Lawyer each year since 2004.

Michael is a regular presenter at the Cleveland Tax Institute and spoke in 2010 on “Current Trends and Developments in Executive Compensation.” He also co-authored an article in the Spring 2011 issue of Journal of Taxation of Investments – “2010 Tax Relief Act – Equity Capital Opportunities for Small Business.”

He is a member and former chair of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s General Taxation Committee and former general chair of the Cleveland Tax Institute. Michael is also a member of the American Bar Association. He is a trustee of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs and a member of its Executive Committee, as well as a trustee of the Eleanor B. Rainey Memorial Institute. Michael is a former trustee of the Tax Club of Cleveland and a member of the Tax Practitioners of Cleveland.

Representative Experience

• Representing key executives of a target corporation in a US$600 million acquisition with respect to settlement and restructuring of executives' equity interests in target.
• Assisting a major public corporation in disposing of a multibillion-dollar division.
• Persuading the IRS Office of Appeals to settle a multimillion-dollar issue related to the proper characterization of income received by a public company in a contract renegotiation.
• Advising governmental issuers on the tax consequences of contingent payment debt.
• Advising a major US-based bank on the tax consequences of issuing “hybrid debt securities.”
• Representing the US subsidiary of a major multinational in numerous US acquisitions.
• Assisting numerous US-based public corporations in revising executive compensation plans to comply with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.