Lawyer Overview

Mike has represented corporate and governmental clients in litigation in state and federal courts in Ohio and other states for over two decades.  From 2003 to 2006, Mike was the First Assistant Attorney General in the Ohio Attorney General's Office.  In that position, Mike was the principal deputy to the Attorney General and was directly responsible for the representation of Ohio 's statewide elected officials, the General Assembly and most of the State's agencies, boards and commissions in civil litigation.

Prior to his appointment as First Assistant Attorney General, Mike spent eight years as the Chief Legal Counsel to the Ohio Auditor of State.  In that position he counseled numerous county and local governments on the proper expenditure of their tax dollars. 

For ten years prior to his service in state government, Mike was a trial attorney in Cleveland, most of that time  with a 500-lawyer international law firm.  He specialized in representing corporate clients in asbestos, formaldehyde and other chemical exposure cases, as well as in automobile product liability and commercial litigation cases.  Mike has received the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory's highest professional rating of "AV" and has been named one of Central Ohio's "Top Lawyers" by Columbus CEO Magazine (April 2009 edition).

.A central Ohio resident now for over fourteen years, Mike and his family reside in the Columbus suburb of Dublin .  Mike's other community activities include:

Areas of Practice

• Litigation & Appeals
• State, Local & Municipal Law
• Administrative Law
• Business & Commercial Law
• Election Campaign & Political Law
• Contracts
• Government Agencies & Programs

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Business & Commercial Law, Contracts, Class Actions -- Plaintiff, Election Campaign & Political Law, Casinos, Lotteries, State & Local Agencies, State & Municipal Contracts, Litigation & Appeals, Personal Injury -- Defense, Personal Injury -- Plaintiff, Products Liability Law, State, Local & Municipal Law, Toxic Torts

Bar Admissions

• Ohio, 1984
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1985
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio, 2006
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1987
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1994

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association, 1985 - Present
• Ohio State Bar Association, 1985 - Present
• Columbus Bar Association, 1998 - Present
• Republican National Lawyers Association, 2001 - Present

Honors and Awards

• AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, 1998 - Present
• Named one of Central Ohio's "Top Lawyers" by Columbus CEO Magazine, April 1, 2009 - Present

Classes and Seminars

• "Role of State Attorneys General in National Environmental Policy", Columbia Law School, 2004

Past Employment Positions

• Ohio Attorney General's Office, First Assistant Attorney General, 2003 - 2006
• Ohio Auditor of State's Office, Chief Legal Counsel, 1995 - 2003
• Squire Sanders & Dempsey, 1989 - 1995

Education

• Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio, 1984
  J.D.
• Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 1981
  B.A.
  Major: Political Science; Economics

Offers Free Initial Consultation

Accepts Credit Cards

Published Works

• "CERCLA Pre-emption of State Law", Defense Research Institute, Federal Pre-emption Defense, 1995

Address

107 S. High Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Phones

(614) 223-0000

Faxes

(614) 341-2354

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.wsbc-col.com