Michael began his career in a boutique litigation firm and in Freehills’ corporate, commercial and trade practices litigation teams before joining Francis Burt Chambers in 2002. After completing his pupillage with Chris Zelestis QC and Craig Colvin SC in 2002, Michael developed a corporate and commercial practice with a bias towards corporations, trade practices, professional negligence, mining and construction, real property, and equity and trusts litigation.

Between 2007 and 2009 Michael was engaged as an advocate with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s international arbitration group in Paris. Michael worked with two leaders in the field of international arbitration, Jan Paulsson and Lucy Reed, and acted as counsel on a number of matters that have added to his experience of shareholder, mining and oil and gas matters. These cases included disputes relating to ownership and control of one of South Korea’s largest life insurance companies, gas pricing under a long-term supply contract to a European gas utility, oil and gas exploration licenses in the Russian Federation, and investment treaties in the Republics of Romania and South Africa. Michael will teach International Commercial Arbitration at UWA Law School from 2010.