Inspiring and supporting two offices of 56 attorneys and 38 business staff, Michelle Ferreira has distinguished herself as a “woman worth watching” through her leadership, professional achievements, community involvement, and commitment to diversity in the legal profession.

As Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Ferreira focuses on delivering success for her clients, giving back to the Bay Area community, and inspiring others at Greenberg Traurig and beyond to do the same.

Ferreira counsels individuals, partnerships, estates and corporations in tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state and local tax agencies, including the California Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, the Employment Development Department and county assessment appeals boards.

Ferreira has 18 reported decisions in the U.S. Tax Court on issues such as unreported income, family limited partnerships, civil and criminal tax fraud, penalty assessments, statutes of limitation assertions, valuation disputes, controversies involving valuation discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability, tax shelters, hobby losses, complex real estate transactions, tax structured transactions, and unsubstantiated business expenses.

A former senior trial attorney with the Office of the Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service, Ferreira has said that she joined Greenberg Traurig in 2004 in part because of its commitment to diversity and inclusion: “I saw an opportunity to grow into a shareholder, and a leader. I am female and a Latina and I wanted a firm that was led by others who were similar.”

Throughout her Greenberg Traurig career, she has developed a reputation as a mentor and leader, including to younger female attorneys. She is involved, for instance, in the firm’s award-winning Women’s Initiative, which focuses on fostering the success of women attorneys.

Her commitment to the advancement of women and diverse attorneys reaches beyond the firm as well. She is an active Board Member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Justice & Diversity Center, and speaks and writes frequently on the topic of diversity in law.

She has been named among “The Most Influential Women in the Bay Area,” by San Francisco Business Times, and the “World’s Leading Women in Business Law” by Euromoney, and was recently selected by Profiles in Diversity Journal among its 2019 “Women Worth Watching.”

Along with her career success, she is also proud of her family life and is the mother of a 21-year-old son. Her experience as such encourages women who value both their professional and family life, demonstrating it is possible to succeed in both.

Ferreira’s view on diversity in the legal profession includes having law firms show a commitment to diversity in the workplace by expanding relationships with like-minded organizations and clients, as well as by offering flexible work-life career paths, and working with diverse attorneys to help design and advance careers. Additionally, Ferreira notes that having women and other minority attorneys in positions of leadership shows to junior, diverse lawyers the firm’s commitment to diversity for staff, lawyers, firm vendors, and clients.