Mike is a founding member of the Firm. In his 25 years of practice, he has distinguished himself as a trial lawyer. He started his litigation career in 1990 as an associate at the well-known firm of Blackwell Sanders (now Husch Blackwell). At Blackwell Sanders he learned the skills of a trial lawyer. Mike became an equity partner at Blackwell Sanders.
In 2000, Mike was sent by Blackwell Sanders to build its European litigation practice. The three-month exploration of European litigation turned into a seven-year stay where he created a steady docket of interesting and diverse clients.
In 2001, Mike was called upon to develop a strategy for certain syndicates at Lloyd’s of London to recover their losses suffered in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Mike developed the strategy and filed the first commercial plaintiff recovery case in early 2002. His work lead to the creation of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and he was one of the lead attorneys appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to litigate the World Trade Center cases. This Committee ultimately negotiated a $1.2 billion settlement for the plaintiffs — the largest recovery of this nature in history.
In addition to practicing in the United States, Mike is qualified to practice in England and Wales. He also successfully completed the exam to be a certified public accountant (CPA) (Kansas 1987).
Pro Hac Vice admissions in several courts in the U.S.