Michelle Schultz

Michelle is a corporate and M&A attorney who focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and corporate governance for privately and publicly held companies. She draws on nearly two decades of experience in both private practice and senior in-house roles across industries including manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, private equity, and insurance.

Before joining Taft, Michelle served as Assistant General Counsel at Kohler Co., where she oversaw domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and corporate governance matters. In that role, she led legal strategy for M&A transactions, joint ventures, and minority investments; advised senior leadership on deal structuring, risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance; and supported board governance and shareholder communications. She also managed international legal teams across multiple regions, coordinated external counsel and cross-functional internal teams to execute strategic transactions efficiently, and developed governance frameworks for international subsidiaries and joint ventures.

Previously, Michelle served as a principal attorney at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, where she acted as a strategic legal partner to corporate development and diversified businesses on transactional, contract, governance, investment, and M&A matters and led complex transactions from inception through closing.

Her experience also includes more than a decade in private practice counseling public and private companies, private equity sponsors, family offices, and investment firms on domestic and international transactions and general corporate matters.

Clients and colleagues value Michelle’s practical, solutions-driven, and collaborative approach and her focus on common-sense advice that advances business objectives while managing risk. She is known for her attention to detail, strong relationships with business stakeholders, and a positive, results-oriented mindset on complex projects and transactions.