Michael is a practicing patent and trademark attorney and founding partner with the Altera Law Group. Previously, he was a senior vice president of Merchant and Gould law firm. In his practice, he drafts and defends patents, trademarks and copyrights and conducts due diligence for buyers and sellers of businesses. He is a registered Patent attorney in the US and Canada and has offices in Minneapolis and Atlanta. He is also an internationally recognized speaker on subject of building corporate value and developing business exit strategies. He is the founder of Aktia Corporation, a strategic business planning and brand creation firm. In addition to his law degree (cum laude at Syracuse University) , Michael has a degree in electrical engineering (cum laude at University of Minnesota) , is a published author , and is an annual lecturer at McGill University (Montreal) and Georgia Tech University (Atlanta). He is a national speaker for Vistage International, a roundtable of 14,000 CEOs in North America on the topic enhancing corporate value by developing an effective IP strategy. He practice also includes management of international intellectual property, has worked in several European law firms and speaks four languages.