Michael William Zarlenga

Michael Zarlenga has been practicing law and consulting with businesses for over 25 years. He became General Counsel of PROOF Management, LLC, the fund manager for the venture capital funds in January 2019.  Prior to joining PROOF, Mr. Zarlenga was of counsel with Bergstrom Attorneys in its Washington, DC office. During the 2015 to 2016 election cycle, Mr. Zarlenga also served as General Counsel to Carson America, Inc., the principle campaign committee for Dr. Ben Carson's bid for the Republican Presidential Nomination.

Mr. Zarlenga is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio and the District of Columbia. After graduating from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate, Mr. Zarlenga moved to Washington, DC and became an associate with a boutique corporate and securities firm specializing in the banking industry. Wanting a broader knowledge of industries, he then moved to the Washington, DC office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. While at Manatt, he handled a variety of corporate, contract, regulatory, and securities matters for individuals and businesses that ranged in size from start-up technology companies to Fortune 500 companies. He has represented clients ranging from financial institutions and mutual funds to venture capital funds and technology companies. He is a contributing author to 784-3rd BNA Tax Management Portfolios (2011), Corporate Liquidations, having drafted all of the sample documents to the portfolio.

Mr. Zarlenga left Manatt in 1999 to become the President and General Counsel of a start-up technology company building hardware and software solutions in the lawful intercept space. Business and technology issues identified by Mr. Zarlenga back in 1999 remain unsolved today, even with the largest and most sophisticated companies in the world working on the solutions.

Since 2008, Mr. Zarlenga has been consulting on legal and non-legal issues that affect businesses. He is regularly interviewed by news organizations related to firearms laws and regulations. He has served on the Boards of Directors and the Committees of many diverse not-for-profit organizations including the American Water Spaniel Club, Inc. his local chapter of Duck's Unlimited, and the Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Committee of the Board of the National Rifle Association.