Professional Experience
A partner with Walter & Haverfield LLP, Mike is a member of the firm's Litigation Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on environmental litigation and counseling, environmental crimes,
strategic planning and analysis of environmental compliance and energy issues, strategic planning
in acquisitions and divestitures and evaluation of environmental due diligence investigation,
litigation of toxic torts, energy and other governmental regulatory issues.
Mike is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Who's Who in American Law, 8th Edition; Chambers
USA: America's Leading Lawyers; and Ohio Super Lawyers. He is also admitted in the Society of
Benchers and is a member of the American Bar Association's Litigation Section.
Areas Of Emphasis
Litigation Services
Mike's litigation experience includes:
- Defense of federal and state civil and criminal environmental enforcement actions
- Lead counsel in defense of owners and operators of land disposal facilities
- Counsel for industrial group defendants in Superfund litigation
- Common counsel in Superfund cost recovery and contribution actions
- Lead counsel for cost recovery action against consultant for negligent environmental counseling
- Cost recovery actions for design defect claims against Municipal Waste Water Treatment facilities
- Lead counsel for contract disputes involving historical environmental damage and liability among successive owners of contaminated properties
- Defense of enforcement actions under RCRA, TSCA, Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act
- Negotiations to reduce civil penalties in RCRA, Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act cases
- Representation of municipalities and public entities in land use disputes involving solid waste transfer and disposal facilities
- Lead counsel in defense of new source review enforcement cases
- Defense of product liability claims involving asbestos
- Defense of Removal Orders by Army Corps of Engineers for filling of wetlands and navigable waters
- Participation in background investigations for solid waste permits
- RCRA corrective actions
- Hazardous communication, community right-to-know, toxic release reporting for manufacturing and chemical production facilities
- Underground storage tank closures and clean up
- OSHA inspections and penalty negotiations
- Defense of environmental criminal cases involving air pollution, Title V reporting, water discharges, and claims of improper handling and disposal of hazardous waste
- Actions for recovery of compensation and lost profits under the Oil Pollution Action
Professional & Community Associations
- American Bar Association - Litigation and Environmental, Energy and Resources Sections
- Ohio State Bar Association - Environmental Law Committee
- Federal Bar Association - Environmental Law Section
- Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association - Environmental Law Committee
- Case Western Reserve University School of Law - past Adjunct Lecturer, 1976-1990, Energy and Environmental Law
Education
Case Western Reserve University School of Law, J.D., 1973
(Order of the Coif)
Case Western Reserve University, B.A., 1970
Licensed to Practice
- Ohio
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Federal district and appellate courts
Awards & Recognitions1989-2012 - Selected for inclusion in 2012, for the 20th time, in The Best Lawyers in America. Listed in current edition for Environmental Law and Litigation - Environmental.AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell 2006 - Recognized in the May 2006 edition of Corporate Counsel Magazine: Best Lawyers - Environmental Law National Register's Who's Who in American Law - 8 th Edition 2005-2012 - Selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. Areas of practice: Environmental Law; Environmental Litigation. 2002 - 2011 - Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business: Natural Resources & Environment (Ohio) 2002 - Admitted to the Society of Benchers at Case Western Reserve University of Law |
Articles by Michael A. CyphertJune 2005 - Client Alert on Environmental Law: Toxic Release Inventory Data Due July 1 |
