At the end of 2013 Michael retired from the Honigman law firm where he was a partner in the employee benefits, executive compensation and insurance groups. He was Board Chair of C2BE at its founding in 2007, and remained on the Board until he began working on the C2BE staff following his retirement from Honigman. Prior to becoming an attorney, Michael drove a truck in Cleveland, Ohio for 14 years, and as a union activist, he was a founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). TDU is still active and is the longest running rank and file caucus in U.S. labor history. Michael received his law degree, magna cum laude from Wayne State University Law School, his A.B degree, summa cum laude from Columbia College in New York City, and B.A. and M.A. degrees from Trinity College, Cambridge England.