[1] In 1981 he returned to private practice[2] (at the state's oldest and largest law firm, Jackson Kelly, in Charleston, West Virginia), where he worked as a commercial litigator until his appointment to the Court of Appeals in 1993.
While in private practice Michael also served at one point as campaign manager for the re-election of United States Senator Robert C.
[2] Michael was nominated by President Bill Clinton[2] on August 6, 1993, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated by James Marshall Sprouse.
[3][4]: 513 Michael had often been in disagreement with his judicial colleagues on the Fourth Circuit, which was known in the 1990s as the "boldest" conservative appellate court in the United States.
According to newspaper accounts, when officials in the administration of President George W. Bush consulted Senator Byrd in the summer of 2005 about the United States Supreme Court vacancy caused by the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Byrd suggested Michael be nominated to fill the seat.