Practice Areas
Education
- B.A., Union College, 1989, Modern Languages
- J.D., Temple University, 1992
- LL.M., University of Hamburg, 1994, magna cum laude
Languages
- German
- Spanish
Bar & Court Admissions
- New York, 1993
- North Carolina, 1996
Other Areas of Law
- International
- Corporate
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Business Planning
- ESOP Transactions
- Small Business Lending
Michael (Mike) E. Zeller
Mike Zeller provides his corporate transactional clients the accessibility, responsiveness, knowledge and understanding of in-house counsel, coupled with the deep, full-spectrum Moore & Van Allen legal resources and cost-efficiencies.
He gives his regional, national and international clients passionate, straightforward counsel in general corporate representation, mergers and acquisitions, inbound and outbound international trade. A significant portion of Mr. Zeller's practice involves the implementation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and transactions involving ESOP companies. In this regard, Mr. Zeller represents both corporations and institutional trustees.
He focuses on instilling confidence in his clients by:
- Handling their requests with all possible attention and high professionalism.
- Understanding their goals fully.
- Using realistic and timely communication.
- Providing options that best accomplish their desired outcomes.
Since 1997, he has served as local counsel to CIT Small Business Lending Corporation. He also represents clients as borrowers in connection with major corporate acquisitions, reorganizations, plant expansions and increased working-capital needs.
Fluent in German and formerly associated with DROSTE, a prominent Hamburg, Germany, law firm, he assists foreign clients in establishing business relations or subsidiaries in the United States and advises United States-based clients on the development of trading opportunities abroad, joint venture agreements, distributor and agency agreements, sales representative agreements, licensing agreements, and disputes with the U.S. Customs Service.
Mr. Zeller’s client services include:
- Asset acquisitions and divestitures
- Capitalization transactions
- Corporate governance
- Employee stock ownership plans
- Entity formation/governance
- General corporate counsel
- International business/trade
- Joint ventures and strategic alliances
- Leveraged buyouts
- Licensing, distribution and general contract matters
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Preferred and common stock placements
- Private equity, venture capital
- Shareholder agreements
- Stock agreements
- Stock option plans and restricted stock agreements
Of Note
- Fluent in German, versed in Spanish
- Seminar lecturer on corporate, ESOP and international law issues
- Listed in the 2003-2008 editions of Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in the Southeast, and Who’s Who in America
- Active volunteer attorney, representing children in contested custody cases and women seeking domestic-violence protective orders
- Volunteer Attorney of the Year, Mecklenburg County Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program in 1998 and 2003 for exemplary service to Council for Children’s Rights
- Guardian ad litem
- Director, Council for Children's Rights, 2004-2007
- Contact Partner, Globalaw
Professional Affiliations
- National Center for Employee Ownership
- ESOP Association
- American Bar Association
- North Carolina Bar Association
- Mecklenburg County Bar
- Gewerblicher Rechtschutz und Urheberrecht Verband