Michale O’Bryan is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s global M&A practice group.  Based in San Francisco, Mike advises on U.S. and international mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions, including “going private” and other related-party transactions. He has advised companies, boards, and special committees, as well as investment banks, in both negotiated and contested transactions and in activist situations. He works with clients across industries, including technology, software, telecommunications, agtech, consumer, and healthcare/life sciences.

Mike has been ranked in numerous publications, including Chambers USA and The Legal 500, which named Mike to their M&A Powerlist.  He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America every year since 2013, and in 2021 the publication named him a “Lawyer of the Year” for M&A. He has also been recognized in Who’s Who Legal – The International Who’s Who of Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyers.

Before moving to San Francisco, he worked in Morrison Foerster’s Tokyo office for four years. Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, he worked at a Japanese law firm for two years, concentrating on cross–border transactions. He serves on the board of directors of the Japan Society of Northern California.

Mike is the immediate past chair of the American Bar Association’s M&A Committee, where he also served as co-editor of the Model Tender Offer Agreement, on the editorial board for the Model Public Company Merger Agreement, and as the editor of the Annual Survey of M&A Cases. He has served on M&A advisory boards, such as the Law360 M&A editorial board and the Thomson Reuters Accelus Business Law Partner advisory board. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and speaks regularly on critical M&A and related topics. He leads efforts around Morrison & Foerster’s annual Key M&A Trends report, recognized as a “Top Read Article” by JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards.