Michael Lebovitz concentrates on international business and tax planning. He has advised on the tax aspects of international joint ventures, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, post-transaction integration, international corporate finance, capital market transactions and general international tax planning matters. His clients include leaders in media and entertainment, life sciences, high technology, consumer products and private equity.

Mike is the US desk for DLA Piper's EMEA offices.

Having extensive experience in pre-transaction restructuring and post-acquisition integration matters, Mike has successfully led numerous global teams advising multinational groups on restructuring in advance of a sale or spin-off of a division as well as designing and implementing integration plans following a global merger or acquisition. He has unique experience bringing together the corporate, tax, labour and other aspects of pre-transaction restructuring and post-merger integration.

Mike has written frequently on international tax topics. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including the Journal of International Taxation, High Tech Industry, Tax Planning International Review, Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review and Major Tax Planning. In 2007, Mike was honoured with a prestigious Burton Award for Legal Achievement, a recognition dedicated to rewarding effective legal writing. The award was conferred on him for his article 'It's Not Easy Being Global - International Tax Trends Across a Multinational Business Life Cycle' which appeared in Major Tax Planning. He has held numerous leadership positions in the Tax sections of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, State Bar of California and American Bar Association.

A frequent speaker on international tax matters, Mike has given lectures throughout the United States and in Europe and Asia for many organisations including Tax Executives Institute, Bloomberg BNA/CITE, the Association of Corporate Counsel, the American, California and Los Angeles County Bar Associations and the California Society of CPAs.

Mike has been included in several listings of leading tax lawyers, including International Tax Review's World Tax 2012 list of the world's leading tax lawyers. Through 2011, he was the leader of DLA Piper's Los Angeles Tax practice, named as the 2011 Los Angeles Tax Practice of the Year at International Tax Review's America's Tax Awards. He has also been recognised in Legal 500 and the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Mike participates extensively in international pro bono matters on behalf of numerous international organisations. He completed a large project for New Perimeter, DLA Piper's Global Pro Bono/Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative. He designed and led the instruction of a new course on international taxation for the law school at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. This was part of a six-month project where DLA Piper lawyers from around the world developed new curricula for the leading law school in Ethiopia to help position the school as an enabler of the country's continued economic development. The project concluded with a conference in Addis Ababa on Law and Economic Development where Mike led a panel discussing the role of taxation in economic development. Visit www.newperimeter.com for more information.