Mike was educated at St. Charles Seminary in Catonsville, Catholic University and received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown Law School.
He was a partner at Smith, Somerville and Case law firm for many years before starting his own firm to fight for women rendered infertile by the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device. He then became General Counsel to the American Urological Association where he remained for 17 years.
During all the years Mike practiced law, he was also active in the community. An early president of the Northeast Community Organization and Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc., Mike was involved in the fight to peacefully integrate Northeast Baltimore. During his time at NECO, Life Magazine designated Greater Northwood as one of the best integrated communities in the US. Mike was a longtime board member of the Community Law Center which continues to offer pro bono representation to communities in need of legal representation to fight vacant housing, liquor license violations and urban blight. One of the organizations of which he was most proud was Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse which fought for common sense laws to protect people from unlawful weapons.
When Mike and his wife, Michele Hughes, moved to the Shore, he began helping local groups to achieve their nonprofit status. To date, Mike has received nonprofit designations for more than 100 organizations. One of Mike's most important projects was the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative or Healthcare for All, a group of both local and statewide organizations working to make certain that all Marylanders had access to quality healthcare. He served as the secretary/treasurer and counsel to the board at the time of his death.
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