Michael joined the firm as a candidate attorney in 1988, was appointed a partner in 1990.  He held the position of managing partner from 2011 to 2021. Michael heads up the Commercial & Natural Resources Law Team at Cox Yeats. He received his BCom LLB cum laude from the University of Natal, Durban and his LLM with first class honours from Cambridge University where he was elected a scholar of St John’s College.

His principal areas of practice are Business Law, Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions, Natural Resources & Energy and Empowerment & Transformation Law. He is a member of the International Bar Association and is listed in both the Guide to the World's Leading Natural Resource Lawyers and the World's Leading Energy and Environmental Lawyers published by Legal Media Group. Michael is also listed as a specialist in Mergers & Acquisitions Law in the global publication, Best Lawyers (www.bestlawyers.com).

Michael is actively involved in a number of community organisations and pro bono work, including Save Vetch's Association, Director of SMILE (St Mary's Interactive Learning), and is a past Governor of Highbury School and a Governor of Kearsney College.