Mike helps companies navigate the labyrinth of regulatory, policy, and stakeholder relations issues involved in permitting and developing projects.
Clients benefit from Mike's extensive experience working in regulatory, policy influence, government affairs, and legal roles for QEP Resources, a former NYSE-listed oil and gas exploration and production company.
Mike has cultivated valuable working relationships with a broad range of energy industry stakeholders including federal, state and local regulators, Tribal authorities, other energy operators, landowners, trade organizations, and conservation groups in Wyoming and Colorado. He leverages sophisticated understanding of government and tribal processes to help clients obtain defensible permitting and other regulatory approvals to facilitate project development and operation.
As a registered lobbyist, Mike helps clients anticipate legislative, policy, and political developments and develop proactive strategies to protect their business interests. He also helps position clients in the regulatory process through comments on regulatory initiatives and rulemakings. Mike also advises clients on complex and routine operational and corporate formation.
In the early stages of his career, Mike honed his policy and government affairs skills serving as a senior Legislative Assistant to former Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Wade Brorby at the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and worked as an associate at Holland & Hart and another law firm serving energy industry and other corporate clients.