Environmental litigation can be damaging and costly. That’s why corporate clients trust Michael with their complex US environmental litigation matters, including CERCLA/cost recovery actions, toxic tort actions and cases involving impacted property. Michael also helps clients comply with state and federal environmental regulations. He guides companies in buying, selling and remediating contaminated properties, negotiating access agreements, and reviewing environmental aspects of real estate transactions, including the negotiation of numerous voluntary cleanup contracts under the South Carolina Brownfields Program.
Michael works directly with officials from the EPA, DOJ and multiple state agencies, including the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, to negotiate agreements on compliance, cost recovery, permitting issues and redevelopment matters. He also regularly advises corporate clients on business decisions as they relate to liability exposure, remediation/redevelopment and public relations matters.
In addition to his environmental practice, Michael has experience in a variety of litigation matters, representing clients in complex mediations, trying cases and arbitration proceedings to verdict, and briefing and presenting oral arguments both before trial courts on dispositive motions as well as in appeals before the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Civic and Professional Activities
- South Carolina Bar Association
- Environmental & Natural Resources Section, South Carolina Bar Association, 2006-present, House of Delegates, 2012-2014, Chairman, 2011-2012, Chairman-Elect, 2010-2011, Secretary, 2009-2010, Council Member, 2006-2009
- American Bar Association
- Greenville County Bar Association, Executive Committee, 2006, Young Lawyers Division, Secretary/Treasurer, 2004, Vice President, 2005, President, 2006
- South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association
- Defense Research Institute
- United Way, Office Coordinator, 2003-present
Honors and Awards
- Chambers USA Ranked Lawyer, Environment, South Carolina, 2015 – Present
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings) in the fields of Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental, 2017 – Present
- Super Lawyers Honoree, Environmental Law, Business Litigation, South Carolina Super Lawyers magazine (Thomson Reuters), 2018 – 2019
- Selected to the South Carolina Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) in Environmental Law, 2012 – 2017
- Recognized in Greenville Business Magazine’s Legal Elite, Environmental
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Representing a national construction firm in a personal injury lawsuit through trial.
- Representing a national lender in alleged mortgage fraud litigation, serving as lead counsel in a state court trial and two arbitration proceedings.
- Representing a real estate developer in a business dispute with its general contractor, involving allegations of fraud and unfair trade practices.
- Representing a regional bank at trial in the foreclosure of commercial property impacted by wetlands, defending against claims of negligence and fraud.
- Representing a number of corporate defendants in toxic tort and personal injury cases, contract disputes, legal malpractice actions and a variety of other litigation matters.
