College of Business Administration

Michael J. Costello

 

Michael CostelloMichael J. Costello
Assistant Teaching Professor
Office: 1114-Tower
Voice (314)-516-6271
Email: costellom@umsl.edu





Michael J. Costello is an assistant teaching professor in the field of business law and international business at the University of Missouri St. Louis. He is also a founding partner of Agreeco, llc, an international consulting group composed of former officers from the Agribrands business. (See: www.agreeco.com ) Mr. Costello serves as a commercial arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association. (See: www.adr.org )

Mr. Costello has been corporate secretary and general counsel for Agribrands International, Inc. [a global supplier of agricultural animal feed products acquired by Cargill], a fortune 500 NYSE listed manufacturing, distribution and sales company with operations in sixteen countries on four continents. He has also been international counsel for Monsanto Company [ a global supplier of agricultural chemicals, such as Roundup herbicide and seeds] and the Ralston Purina Company [a manufacturer and marketer of animal and human food products, such as Purina agri feed, dog and cat products, Wonder breads, Hostess cakes and Chex breakfast cereals.] Prior to that he practiced with a large US law firm and the Brussels office of a Scandinavian law firm in the areas of international, corporate, commercial, finance, bankruptcy and real estate. He served as a stagiaire in the directorate for development in the Commission of the European Union.

Mr. Costello has advised clients in acquisitions, divestitures, licensing, establishment and operation of businesses in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and the Americas. As a corporate secretary, division and general counsel, Mr. Costello has been responsible for the organization and direction of the legal affairs; public company listing, reporting and withdrawal; supervision and direction of significant and recurring litigation within and outside the United States; planning and budgeting of legal expenditures as an element of achieving financial objectives and the selection, training and supervision of internal and external legal personnel.

As his career has permitted, Mr. Costello has given lectures and taught courses in international public and commercial law, international institutions, international operations, global business issues and ethics at institutions, such as Counsel to Counsel Roundtable, American Corporate Counsel Association, University of Michigan, Washington University of St. Louis, St. Louis University, Gulf University in Kuwait, the MBA program at Nanjing University, Webster University and Lindenwood University.  He also instructs in specialized programs for companies such as Accenture, BJC Hospitals, Brown Shoe Company, and Express Scripts.

Mr. Costello has a Masters of International and Comparative Law cum laude from the Vrije Universeit in Brussels, Belgium, a Juris Doctorate cum laude from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri and a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He has also studied competition law at Exeter University in the United Kingdom, international law at the McGeorge School of Law program in Salzburg, Austria and the Harvard University program on negotiation.

He has studied Chinese, has some awareness of Dutch, is modestly conversant in French and is currently studying Arabic.

He is married with two children who have recently graduated from University.