Michael Best Announces Election of Eight to Equity Partnership 

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announces the elevation of eight partners to the firm’s Equity Partnership. The firm congratulates Nicholas Behrens, William Bray, Michelle Ebben, Jordan Factor, Darren Gibson, Grant Maynard, Amanda Wait, and Matt Wolf on this milestone. The newly elevated Equity Partners come from a range of offices across the firm, reflecting Michael Best’s continued growth and geographic reach.

“These attorneys consistently demonstrate strong skills as attorneys and trusted client counselors, along with leadership within the firm,” said David Krutz, Firm Managing Partner of Michael Best. “Their elevation to Equity Partner reflects their contributions to the firm and our confidence in their continued growth and leadership.”

With extensive experience in corporate and transactional matters, Behrens specializes in counseling buyers and sellers in a variety of mergers and acquisitions. He adeptly helps clients navigate complex strategic transactions, deploying a pragmatic and practical approach to negotiations and deal structuring. His experience includes advising private equity sponsors, strategics and owners across diverse industries in both buy-side and sell-side transactions of all sizes—with a particular focus on the middle and lower middle market, as well as “acqui-hire”, joint venture, and other strategic transactions.

Bray serves as primary outside counsel for dozens of companies across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, finance, technology, retail, media, manufacturing, motorsports, and more. He is a trusted advisor who has played a crucial role for numerous small- to middle-market, privately held companies. As a seasoned transaction attorney, Bray also specializes in mergers, acquisitions, and private offerings. Throughout his career, he has honed his skills in navigating complex transactions ranging in size from under $1 million to over $75 million.

Ebben advises clients on construction, real estate, and project development matters, providing strategic counsel across complex transactions, entitlements, and public private projects. Her work includes purchase, sale, leasing and sale leaseback deals; zoning and land use issues; public financing; easements and access rights; and implementing best practices for largescale developments, including single-family, multifamily, and condominium projects. She also drafts and negotiates construction agreements and handles construction related disputes such as defect and lien claims, insurance coverage issues, and other ADR matters. -private projects. -leaseback deals; zoning and land use issues; public financing; easements and access

rights; and implementing best practices for large-scale developments, including single-family, multi-family, and condominium projects. She also drafts and negotiates construction agreements and handles construction-related disputes such as defect and lien claims, insurance coverage issues, and other ADR matters.

As a creative and tenacious litigator who focuses on sophisticated disputes often involving multiple parties and parallel proceedings across various courts, Factor represents private equity firms and their portfolio companies, municipalities, public companies, officers and directors, Bankruptcy Court Trustees, and State Court Receivers.

Gibson is a zealous advocate and trusted advisor to private businesses and public sector employers. He vigorously defends his clients in restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation, discrimination and retaliation claims, and class and collective actions, among others. Gibson has a particular focus representing higher education, healthcare, and financial institutions and conducts workplace investigations across the country.

Maynard works with early-stage companies to address their corporate and securities needs. He specializes in venture financing, fund formation, and general counsel services. With a passion for the hustle and an entrepreneurial spirit, his practice is tailored to the lifecycle of startups and growth companies where he assists with venture capital financing, M&A transactions, corporate transactions, trademarks and intellectual property, real estate matters, and public benefit corporation formation and compliance.

With over twenty years of government and private practice experience, Wait focuses on global antitrust and competition matters. A former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawyer, she leads global antitrust and competition strategies for companies pursuing complex, high-value transactions and guides clients through high-stakes antitrust investigations before the FTC, Department of Justice (DOJ), and state attorneys general.

Wolf is a trusted partner to private companies, senior leadership teams, and private equity sponsors navigating high-stakes transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities offerings, venture capital investments, and regulatory compliance. For real estate developers, he offers practical guidance on organizational structuring, commercial and structured finance, and sophisticated real estate deals. Clients—from emerging startups to multi-generational operating companies to law firms —rely on him as outside general counsel to advise boards and committees and negotiate critical contracts.