M. Blane Michael

Who was M. Blane Michael?

Martin Blane Michael was a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on August 6, 1993, to a seat vacated by James Marshall Sprouse. Michael's confirmation by the United States Senate on September 30, 1993, made him the first federal judge to be appointed by a Democratic president since Ronald Reagan became President in 1981. Michael received his commission on October 1, 1993 and began judicial service on October 12, 1993.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Michael grew up in Grant County, West Virginia, and in 1965 he earned an A.B., magna cum laude, at West Virginia University, where he was student body president and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended New York University School of Law, where he earned a J.D. in 1968. He spent three years in private practice before becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1971, handling criminal cases. Michael's contemporaries in the U.S. Attorney's Office included John M. Walker, Jr. and Richard Ben-Veniste. For family reasons Michael returned to his home state in 1972, becoming a special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia. From 1973 to 1975 he was in private practice in Petersburg, West Virginia, and he served for one year as a law clerk to United States District Judge Robert E. Maxwell of the Northern District of West Virginia from 1975 to 1976.