Michael F. Merlie

BIOGRAPHY

Michael F. Merlie concentrates his practice in the areas of finance, secured transactions (including creditors’ rights), mergers, acquisitions, admiralty/maritime law, real estate law and startup businesses. Representing institutional, corporate and entrepreneurial clients in a wide variety of business matters, his experience includes negotiating and documenting mergers, acquisitions and real estate transactions. He has also represented institutional lenders in negotiating and documenting financing transactions and has developed a particular expertise in maritime financing. Michael also assists entrepreneurs in all phases of start-up organizations.

Michael is experienced in commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters with reported decisions in both the District Court and the Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Prior to his legal career, he was a certified public accountant with a Big Four accounting firm in Philadelphia. He graduated from Villanova University and the Villanova University School of Law where he was a member of the Villanova Law Review.

Michael is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Bar Associations, the Maritime Law Association of the United States and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Michael has served on various nonprofit boards, most recently being appointed to the board of the Chester County Economic Development Council.

CREDENTIALS

COURT ADMISSIONS

Pennsylvania
New Jersey
United States Supreme Court

EDUCATION

Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania, J.D. (member of the Law Review)
Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, B.S. Accounting

MEMBERSHIPS & SERVICE

Chester County Economic Development Council, board member

ADDITIONAL DISTINCTIONS

Top Lawyers, Main Line Today, 2015-2021
Daily Local News Best Lawyers – 2021 Readers Choice Awards
Smart CEO Magazine “Legal Elite 2011″

NEWS & INSIGHTS

Chester County Residents Choose Gawthrop as 2021 Best Lawyers

In the first annual Daily Local News Best Lawyers - 2021 Readers Choice Awards, Chester County residents have chosen Gawthrop Greenwood. The Daily Local News asked readers to cast their vote…

Record Number of Corporate Restructurings, Bankruptcies Expected in Region

The following from Gawthrop Greenwood was covered by Delaware Public Media, well as the Reading Eagle and Daily Local News. Gawthrop Greenwood is expecting to advise clients through a record…

Corporate Restructuring and Commercial Bankruptcy in the Age of COVID-19

These are daunting times for all American citizens, and corporations are facing tremendous challenges as well. The shutdown of a huge segment of the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic…

Coronavirus and Business Contracts: What’s the Law?

By Gordon W. Prince, Esq. With the unprecedented disruption to business caused by coronavirus, business leaders from the C-suite to the mom-and-pop shop are wondering: How will this affect my…

Sailing the High Seas: Q&A with the Maritime Lawyers at Gawthrop Greenwood

If there’s a local port or public body of water involved, chances are that Gawthrop Greenwood is too. The firm’s Maritime Law Department recently sat down to describe the scope…

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