Michael was born and grew up in Tarrant County, Texas where he continues to reside. From a very early age, he developed an interest in becoming a lawyer. Following his graduation from high school, Michael attended the University of Texas-Arlington where he studied political science and sociology. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1997, graduating with honors (cum laude). While attending UTA, Michael engaged in several internships, including work with a political media consultant where he continued to work following his graduation while awaiting the start of law school.

In 1999, Michael relocated to Lubbock, Texas and began to attend the Texas Tech School of Law. During his time in Lubbock, he developed a deeper appreciation for the oil and gas, cotton and cattle industries. He also enjoyed the food, the Texas Tech community and the not infrequent dust storms that blew through the staked plains. With this time spent in Lubbock, Michael began a newfound love of West Texas. During his studies, Michael became a member of the Texas Tech Board of Barristers and participated in the school’s national mock trial team, travelling to various places including Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dallas, Texas and Chicago, Illinois for trial competitions. Through these activities, he continued to nurture and develop his love for time spent in the courtroom. In 2002, Michael received his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech, graduating with honors (cum laude) and was thereafter licensed in that year to practice law by the State Bar of Texas.

Thereafter, he returned to Tarrant County, beginning to live and practice in Fort Worth, Texas working for a local law firm. His first years as a lawyer were spent learning the ropes of litigation in practicing family law, personal injury law and general civil and commercial litigation.

After practicing for over two years under the sage and dignified guidance and mentoring of the members of the firm, Michael left to create his own solo practice. For a number of years thereafter, Michael continued to develop his focus upon family law and commercial litigation.

In 2010, though Michael was quite happy with his practice as a sole practitioner, he was offered an opportunity to work for one of the largest family law litigation firms in the Southwestern United States. The opportunity to further develop his career through larger scale and complex litigation was too much to pass up and he began working for the firm in 2011 where he remained until 2017. Through this experience, he had the opportunity to engage in complex family law litigation with respect to the size of the estates and intricacy of the many issues which they presented. His skills as a custody litigator further progressed in cases involving the engagement of multiple experts and at times was international in nature. During this stage of his career, in 2015 with over a decade of experience in family law litigation, Michael applied to and was permitted to take the exam issued by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization which is required to be recognized as a specialist. He thereafter became recognized as a Family Law Specialist upon his first attempt.

During this period, Michael also became trained in Collaborative Law and began representation of clients involved in that process. Collaborative Law is an alternative to litigation wherein rather than taking a traditional adversarial posture, the litigants engage in an approach which is constructed to be interest-based and constructive. In his experiences in handling Collaborative Law matters, Michael’s understanding that through emotionally and financially difficult situations, resolutions could often be achieved through a healthier process with mutually beneficial results provided that the litigants could accomplish a shift in mentality.

During Michael’s career, he thoroughly enjoyed the time which he spent in the courtrooms of Texas conducting hearings and trials on behalf of clients before judges and juries. Through this, he developed a deep appreciation for both the importance of the legal community’s relationships and also the psychological factors that arise during the pendency of a lawsuit. Understanding that many people were best-served in finding an “off ramp” to the costly and emotional litigation in which they were involved through constructive and thoughtful negotiation. With this understanding, in 2016 Michael left litigation and the firm that he was working for to form a mediation practice. In doing so, Michael discovered what he believes to be his true calling.

Michael takes a very human approach to mediation with a focus on active listening to truly understand the issues which are presented by each and every case. Through his litigation and life experience, Michael has a depth of knowledge in complex litigation matters. Each and every day, Michael looks forward to working to assist those involved in litigation to find reasonable solutions and to obtain dignified closure.

When not working, Michael spends time with his wife and daughters. He enjoys time spent outdoors engaging in his interests of hunting, fishing, running, cycling and riding his motorcycle. Some of his favorite moments are the time that he is able to spend with his family at their second home outside of Fort Davis, Texas.