Steve Kozachok

Steve is a shareholder in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. He is a member of the Business Law Section, and practices principally in the areas of:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Strategic relationships
• Venture capital financing
• Entity formation and business planning
• Corporate governance
• Public debt and equity financing
• General corporate and securities law

Representing public and privately held companies in a wide variety of matters, Steve has completed more than 50 M&A transactions in the course of his work as both outside and in-house counsel, and more than 25 venture capital financings. He was one of only two individuals in Minnesota listed as up-and-coming M&A attorneys in 2005 in Chambers U.S.A., an independent guide to leading business lawyers, and was named a "Rising Star" by Minnesota Law & Politics for five consecutive years.

Steve has extensive corporate and securities law experience. He practiced in the corporate group of a large local law firm for eight years before serving for three years as the associate general counsel for a major medical device company, where he was responsible for M&A, financings, securities law compliance and reporting and corporate governance matters. Steve next served as general counsel for a leading, publicly held computer security software company until its sale to a publicly held buyer in late 2008, and then as general counsel for the network security division of the post-merger entity until 2009.

Steve’s experience includes:  tender offers, going-private transactions and deal protection measures such as no shops, go shops, voting agreements and force-the-vote provisions;  defensive measures, including poison pills, staggered boards and supermajority approval provisions;  leveraged buyouts, earn-outs, retained interests, and seller paper;  ESOPs;  strategic relationships involving joint development, clinical services, license, supply, distribution and joint venture agreements;  venture capital investments;  10-Ks, 10-Qs, 8-Ks, proxy statements, Section 16 filings and other SEC filings;  share repurchase programs;  convertible debentures and hedging transactions;  PIPEs financings;  international antitrust submissions;  and filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Admitted to practice in Minnesota, Steve is a member of the Minnesota State, Ramsey County and American bar associations.

Steve received his B.A. in economics with honors from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree with honors from the George Washington University Law School. Following law school, Steve served as a law clerk for the Honorable R. A. Randall at the Minnesota Court of Appeals. He joined Briggs in 2009.