Michael Howard

Michael Howard is a Minneapolis, Minnesota attorney whose practice centers on mergers and acquisitions and outside general counsel representation. He is the founder of Pruvent PLLC, a Minneapolis business law firm. Michael advises owners, boards, investors, and management teams through sophisticated transactions, with particular concentration on sell-side M&A representing owners who are selling their companies. He manages each engagement end to end: deal structuring, letters of intent, due diligence, drafting and negotiating definitive purchase agreements, financing and security arrangements, regulatory considerations, and closing. His objective is to maximize value for sellers while controlling risk and post-closing exposure. Over his career, Michael has acted as outside general counsel for hundreds of companies and as a strategic M&A advisor on numerous buy-side and sell-side matters. He has served as lead counsel on acquisition and sale transactions for privately held companies, assisted with roll-ups, and represented FDA-regulated and Fortune 500 enterprises on corporate, regulatory, distribution, financial, and international matters. His clients span the spectrum from small, closely held businesses to large, publicly traded corporations across the technology, medical device, health products, manufacturing, finance, and real estate sectors. As outside general counsel, Michael functions as a senior legal partner to companies that want experienced counsel without the overhead of a large firm or the risk of a single in-house hire. He coordinates M&A strategy, negotiates and drafts commercial agreements, addresses employment and labor issues, handles real estate and finance transactions, manages litigation, and oversees the full range of a company's legal needs. Michael earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School and completed international business law studies through Cornell University. Before founding Pruvent, he practiced corporate, commercial, and restructuring law. He has lectured extensively on negotiation, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, workouts, and the sale of business assets, and is known for delivering practical, business-minded counsel with responsive client service.