Locke Lord

Michelle Earley is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Capital Markets Group and is a member of Locke Lord’s Executive Committee. She is also Co-Chair of the Firm's Diversity Committee and serves on the Legal Personnel and Partnership Admissions Committee and Lateral Hire Committee. In her practice, she handles a wide range of corporate and securities matters for public and private companies with a strong focus on securities offerings, public disclosures, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance.

Michelle has extensive experience in representing issuers and selling stockholders in registered public offerings, Rule 144A transactions as well as equity and debt private placements, and merger and acquisition transactions. She also advises management and boards of directors on general corporate governance matters.

Representative Experience

• Lamar Advertising in over $1.80 billion of Rule 144A (high-yield) offerings of senior notes and related exchange offers
• Lamar Advertising in its $400 million at-the-market offering
• Conflicts Committee of Spectra Energy Partners, LP (SEP), in the completed conversion of all of Enbridge Inc.'s incentive distribution rights (IDRs) and general partner economic interests in SEP into 172.5 million newly issued SEP common units
• Large offshore oil and gas operator in its $100 million at-the-market offering
• Oil field service company in two separate $50 million at-the-market offering
• Regulated utility company in its $175 million private placement of its unsecured senior notes and its $835 million exchange offer of senior secured notes
• Large offshore oil and gas operator in its $200 million public senior convertible notes offering
• Master limited partnership in its private placement of payment-in-kind securities, Rule 144A offering of senior notes, public offerings of equity securities, and private debt offerings and subsequent exchange offers
• Various issuers in Rule 144A note offerings, exchange offers, high-yield note offerings and other equity and debt offerings (registered and private)
• Several Fortune 1000 clients in Securities Exchange Act and Securities Act matters

• Lamar Advertising in its $418.5 million acquisition of another outdoor advertising company
• Publicly traded utility in its $4.7 billion acquisition by an investor group
• Publicly traded industrial services company in its $335 million acquisition of a publicly traded industrial services company
• Publicly traded software company in its $135 million acquisition of a company engaged in end-user experience and web application performance monitoring
• Publicly traded distributor and contract manufacturer of specialized components in multiple acquisitions, dispositions and securities matters
• Privately held data analytics company in its sell to a private equity group

Professional History

• Partner, Locke Lord LLP
• Member, Locke Lord Executive Committee
• Board of Directors, Adams Resources & Energy, Inc.‎
• Law Clerk, Hon. Thomas M. Reavley, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (1997-1998)

Professional Affiliations and Recognitions

• Member, Corporate Laws Committee, ABA Business Law Section
• Member, American Law Institute
• Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
• Member, Austin Black Bar Association
• Member, National Bar Association
• Fellow, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (2016)
• Frank McBee Jr. Fellow, Austin Area Research Organization (2016)
• Leadership Austin Class of 2011
• Power Pipeline Class of 2006
• Leadership Texas Alumnae Association
• Recognized, Diversity & Inclusion Champion, Texas Lawyer (2020)
• Named, Top 50 Women in Oil & Gas, National Diversity Council (2020)
• Named, Top 10 Super Lawyers, Austin Black Business Journal (2019)
• Recognized, Super Lawyers® Texas Rising Star, Securities & Corporate Finance (2005 and 2009)

Community Leadership

• University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors (2020)
• Austin Area Research Organization, Executive Committee (2018)
• Austin Ed Fund, Board of Directors/Executive Committee
• Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center, Board of Directors
• IMPACT Austin, Member
• Jack and Jill of America Inc., Austin Chapter (2008-Present)
• Junior League of Austin (2007-Present)
• Meals on Wheels Groceries to Go (Regular Volunteer)