Michael Downey focuses his practice on helping lawyers, accountants, and their firms comply with their legal and ethical obligations, and assisting these professionals when they are accused of violating such obligations. He advises lawyers and accountants on avoiding malpractice claims and disciplinary complaints, firm formation, partner termination, establishing ancillary businesses, and responding to criminal and civil summonses. Mr. Downey also represents lawyers and accountants in licensure proceedings, character and fitness and disciplinary hearings.

In addition to his practice, Mr. Downey teaches legal ethics and law firm management as an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law. He has written more than 30 articles and presented more than 100 times on professional ethics, including in-house presentations at large accounting firms, law firms and legal departments.

Mr. Downey also serves as a hearing officer for the Missouri lawyer discipline system, and has served on or chaired numerous bar committees including the ABA’s Ethics & Technology Committee (Chair), the ABA Law Practice Management Section’s Education Board (Co-chair), the Missouri Bar’s Ethics 2005 Committee, the Missouri Bar’s Special Committee on Lawyer Advertising, the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professional Conduct, and DRI’s Lawyers’ Professionalism and Ethics Committee. Mr. Downey joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in August 2007. Prior to that time, he was a partner at the St. Louis firm Fox Galvin, LLC, where he started his ethics practice while primarily defending global petroleum, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical companies in product liability, class action, environmental and other major claims.

Mr. Downey has handled a variety of state and federal employment and commercial litigation matters. He has trial and appellate experience, including arguing before the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Mr. Downey graduated first in his class from Washington University School of Law and clerked for the Hon. Pasco Bowman, then Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He also holds a graduate certificate in Law Firm Management from George Washington University, a program co-sponsored by The Hildebrandt Institute.

Prior to law school, Mr. Downey taught high school Latin and coached soccer and chess at a public school near St. Louis.

Mr. Downey has been listed in "Who’s Who in American Law" since 2004, and in "Who’s Who in America," since 2006. He is also rated by Martindale-Hubbell for ethics and legal ability. Mr. Downey has been interviewed and quoted extensively in a number of publications, including the New York Times, and has appeared on both KMOV-TV News 4 and KTVI Fox 2 News.

He regularly authors a column, “Eye on Ethics”, for St. Louis Lawyer. Recent topics include:

• “Rule 4-18(c) and the Solicitation of Gifts from Clients,” July 2007.
• “The 2007 Amendments to the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct,” May 2007.
• “Ethical Obligations Upon Receiving Inadvertently Disclosed Privileged Metadata,” December 2006.
• “Disclosing a Client’s Intended Misconduct under Missouri and Illinois Law,” January 2006.

Mr. Downey serves as an editor of the ABA Litigation Section’s publication Litigation Ethics, and has published numerous articles on ethics through the ABA and DRI.

His other publications include “The Way Out: Don’t Be Vague,” a section of “Top 10 Ethics Traps,” ABA Journal, November 2007.

Mr. Downey has spoken for the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Missouri Bar, DRI, Missouri Society of CPAs, several local chapters of the Institute for Internal Auditors, and numerous accounting and law firms. His presentations include:

• “Problems in Ex Parte Communications with Adversaries, Experts & Witnesses,” and “Recurring Conflict of Interest Issues in Litigation,” Missouri Bar, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2007.
• “The Top Ethics Traps for Lawyers,” American Bar Association Connection, live teleconference, November 2007.
• “CPA Ethics 2007,” Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2007
• “Professional Responsibility and Ethics Issues,” Illinois State Bar Association Basic Skills Program, Springfield, Illinois, November 2007.
• “CPA Ethics 2007,” 2007 Jack Lipsitz Memorial Lectures Series of the Accountants Emergency Assistance Association, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2007
• “CPA Ethics 2007,” Jefferson Wells, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2007
• “10 x 10 Extreme Marketing: Best Practice Case Studies,” Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association’s, “The Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference,” Washington. D.C., November 2007.  
• “Small and Medium Firms & Update on Marketing Ethics,” American Bar Association Law Practice Management Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference, Washington, D.C., November 2007
• “Ethics I and II,” Edward Jones Tax & Legal Professionals Continuing Education Services, Kansas City, Missouri, November 2007.
• “CPA Ethics 2007,” Brown Smith Wallace LLC, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2007.
• “CPA Ethics 2007,” Anders Minkler & Diehl LLP, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2007.
• “Accounting Ethics,” in-house seminar, Hocschild Bloom, St. Louis, Missouri, October 2007.
• “Accounting Ethics,” St. Louis Community College CPA Management Breakfast Series, St. Louis, Missouri, October 2007.
• “Ethics and Expert Witnesses, Lawyers’ Professional & Ethics Committee,” Defense Research Institute Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., October 2007.
• “Ethics of Negotiation, Virginia Continuing Legal Education, live telephone seminar, October 2007.
• “Ethics of Preparing and Presenting Witnesses at Deposition,” WestLegalEdcenter live webcast, October 2007.
• “Collecting Your Fee: Ethically Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice,” American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section, telephone seminar, June 2007.
• “Missouri Legal Ethics: Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Protections,” Lorman Education Services, St. Louis, Missouri, June 2007.
• “Lawyer Ethics and Legal Websites,” American Law Institute/ American Bar Association (ALI-ABA), telephone seminar, June 2007.
• “Embedded Data and Other Invisible Confidences,” 33^rd Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility, American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility, Chicago, Illinois, June 2007.
• “The New, New, New Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct,” 20^th Annual What’s New in Legal Ethics Seminar, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, May 2007.
• “Conflict Issues for Illinois Practitioners: Small Firms, Sole Practitioners and Laterals,” Illinois State Bar Association Practice Ethical Advice Seminar, Collinsville, Illinois, April 2007.  
• “Conflicts and Conflict Waivers,” ABA Law Practice Management Section, telephone seminar, April 2007.