Michael works in the firm’s complex industrial and regulatory practices, with a particular focus in the areas of air, water quality, and endangered species regulation.  He has worked with a wide array of clients, including those in the manufacturing, waste, power generation, commercial development, transportation, education, and municipal sectors.  Michael counsels clients on environmental matters at both the state and federal level, including permitting, agency enforcement, and regulatory compliance involving air emissions, wastewater, stormwater, impacts to endangered species, and solid and hazardous waste.  

He has negotiated complex settlement agreements on behalf of clients, including several Consent Decrees with the United States Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. He also assists clients with the environmental aspects of corporate transactions, in conducting internal investigations and audits, and in the preparation of comments on proposed agency rulemakings. Additionally, Michael has extensive experience in matters involving the Delaware River Basin Commission, including securing required approvals, commenting on Commission rulemakings, negotiating settlement agreements, and participating in administrative hearings.

Michael graduated magna cum laude from Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law where he was the Managing Editor of the Temple Law Review and received multiple academic awards, including the Burton Award for Legal Achievement “Distinguished Law School Winner,” a national writing award presented for excellence in legal writing.  In law school, Michael served a year-long Federal Judicial Clerkship Clinical with the Honorable Gene E.K. Pratter in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  He has been recognized in the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star listing for environmental law since 2018 and was included on the initial Best Lawyers “One to Watch List” for environmental law in 2021.

Outside of the office, Michael is also an adjunct professor at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law where he teaches environmental law. He served on the Board of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary for five years and recently joined the Board of the Lower Merion Conservancy. He lives in Narberth, where you will often find him cooking with his family.

Representative examples of Michael’s experience include the following:

• negotiating Consent Decrees with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including in the areas of air quality, chemical safety, stormwater and water quality;
• challenging the promulgation of EPA regulatory programs in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit;
• assisting in the preparation of public comments on federal and state regulatory proposals including in the areas of air quality, water quality, and endangered species protection;
• counseling clients regarding environmental compliance, including regulatory and permitting obligations;
• assisting clients prepare Title V and operating permit applications;
• helping prepare permits for water withdrawal and discharge;
• challenging conditions included in operating permits;
• assisting clients with performing environmental due diligence associated with asset acquisition; and,
• appealing claim denials by the Pennsylvania Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund.

• Best Lawyers® "Ones to Watch" listing (environmental law), since 2021. The Best Lawyers list is issued by Woodward/White Inc. Click here to view the selection methodology.
  
  Pennsylvania Super Lawyers listing (2024) and “Rising Star” listing (environmental law), since 2018. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. Click here to view the selection methodology.
  
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"What We Are Seeing So Far: Problems Encountered, DEP’s Interpretations, & Early Practice Pointers," presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Bordentown, NJ, October 17, 2023

"Pennsylvania Water Laws and Regulations: Water Use and Allocation in Pennsylvania," a HalfMoon Education webinar, April 27, 2022

“New Jersey’s Energy Evolution Series” moderator, a webinar presented by Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, August 20, 2020

“Practical Pointers for Managing Risk Assessment Screenings” presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Princeton, NJ, February 25, 2020

“The New Regulations for Underground and Aboveground Storage Tanks:  Strategies to Manage  Your Residual Waste” presented at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry’s 2018 Annual Environmental Compliance Conference in Harrisburg, PA, September 26, 2018