Mike learned his most important business lesson while working at TD Bank during university. Helping customers day after day, he realized that everyone who walked through those doors had a story, a goal, and usually a problem that they needed solved. Mike discovered that the best service came from truly understanding what each person needed, not just what they asked for.
That lesson followed him from Montreal to Queen's Law School, where he combined his management degree from Concordia's John Molson School of Business with his growing passion for corporate law. Between classes, you could find Mike on the basketball court or diving into whatever book had caught his attention, habits that would stick with him long after graduation. Mike’s Montreal roots mean that he can discuss client matters, and the Habs, in French.
Fresh out of law school, Mike was thrown straight into the fire at Dickinson Wright, a Bay Street firm. He learned quickly, and those six years in corporate and M&A taught him everything from managing all-nighters on complex energy transactions to mentoring the next wave of students and associates. Mike’s most memorable moment from his time there though was not closing multi-million dollar deals, it was helping an older couple sell their family business so that they could finally retire and help their kids out financially.
Mike's next bit of education came during his nine years in-house, where he discovered that great lawyers do not just sit in boardrooms, they get into the details with the business. At Greenfield Global, a renewable energy and commodity company, Mike worked with everyone from the CEO to the receptionists. As Associate General Counsel, he managed a legal team and negotiated contracts across the globe.
When he was not wrestling with regulatory compliance or M&A deals, he was probably at his Thursday night squash league, and yes, he is open to settling any client disputes on the court instead of in the boardroom. Fair warning: he has been known to bring the same intensity to both.
Later, as General Counsel at Subterra Renewables, Mike ran the entire legal function solo. He became the company's go-to for risk mitigation, contract strategy, and those inevitable "special projects."
These days, when Mike is not practicing law, you can find him competing in sports, coaching soccer, playing with his kids, training in Muay Thai, or volunteering for Jewish Free Loan Toronto.
Mike's approach is simple: treat every client's business as if it was his own.
