Following graduation during World War II, Michael served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy, in the southwest Pacific Theater, from 1942 to 1946.
He served part-time as a judge of the Charlottesville Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court from 1954 to 1962, and as the school board's counsel and special council through 1967.
[1] In 1967, Michael won election to the Virginia Senate from the 22nd district, which consisted of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Cumberland, Powehatan and Madison Counties as well as the city of Charlottesville.
[5] For the previous five decades, that district had been represented by fellow Democrat and lawyer Edward McCue, a stalwart in the Byrd Organization.
Judge Michael assumed senior status on October 31, 1995, and continued on that reduced workload until his death nearly two decades later.