Michael is a Senior Counsel in Ireland, who is also a member of a number of other Bars including England, Northern Ireland and New York. He is a door tenant in Monckton Chambers, London. He practises in the fields of commercial litigation, tax law, EU law, constitutional law, judicial review and arbitration. He is a graduate of University College Dublin with Masters’ degrees in both economics and law. He graduated with an LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania before joining the New York law firm of Shearman and Sterling as an associate. He returned to Ireland in 1981 to commence practice at the Irish Bar. He was elected Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland for 2008 –2010.
Michael frequently acts as an arbitrator in ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ad hoc arbitrations. He is a former President of Arbitration Ireland and the current Chairman of the Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel.
Michael was elected a Bencher of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin, in 2007 and a Bencher of Middle Temple, London, in 2022. In 2008 he was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in the United States. He has been a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Maynooth University on Legal Aspects of Competition and Regulation in the Master of Economic Science degree. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Law at the UCD Sutherland Law School, Dublin.