Michael Downey is a partner in the national Lawyers for the Profession® practice group at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, where his practice focuses on advising lawyers, accountants, and their firms on legal, ethics, discipline, risk management, and related business and professional issues. Mr. Downey has represented lawyers and accountants in federal and state civil, criminal, and disciplinary proceedings, and appeared for applicants for admission and readmission to the Missouri Bar. He has also served as a consulting and testifying expert on ethics matters, and as a hearing officer in lawyer discipline proceedings.

Mr. Downey teaches legal ethics and law firm practice at Washington University School of Law. He has lectured widely and published many articles on professional ethics. In addition, Mr. Downey has been interviewed on professional – mainly legal – ethics by the New York Times, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Missouri Lawyers' Weekly, the St. Louis Business Journal, and other television and print media.

Mr. Downey has extensive involvement in state, local, and national bar activities. He has served on or chaired numerous bar committees related to ethics, ethics & technology, and law practice management, including ABA’s Ethics & Technology Committee (Chair), the ABA Law Practice Management Section (Section Council and 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 (Chair), 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 cosponsored 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 published more than 30 articles and presented more than 100 times on professional ethics. He contributes to one of Hinshaw’s blogs, “The Ethical Quandary,” a legal ethics and litigation blog written for attorneys, by attorneys.

Mr. Downey’s first book, on law firm practice, should be published by the ABA Law Practice Management Section in summer 2009. Mr. Downey is an active member of the Washington University School of Law Alumni Association, and served on the law school’s Alumni Executive Committee from 2000-08. He also serves as a Cub Scout den leader, and was an elder and chair of the stewardship commission at Webster Groves Presbyterian Church.