Paul R. Michel

Judge Paul R. Michel served on the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1988 until retiring in 2010. He was appointed by President Reagan. From 2004 to 2010, he was chief judge. He simultaneously served on the Judicial Conference of the United States and, by appointment of the Chief Justice, its 7-judge executive committee. His judicial tenure followed long service in the Executive and Legislative branches.

He ran investigations as Deputy District Attorney in Philadelphia under Arlen Specter, then supervised a Watergate Special Prosecutor investigation of President Nixon’s slush fund operated by Bebe Rebozo and Rosemary Woods, following which Judge Michel was an assistant counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee (Church Committee), Korea gate prosecutor and Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Section and later Associate Deputy Attorney General, both in the US Department of Justice.

Immediately before appointment to the bench, he was counsel and chief of staff to Senator Arlen Specter. Since retiring for the courts, he consulted in major litigations, conducting mediations, arbitrations, and moot courts, also serving as an expect witness. He authored scores of articles on legal issues and spoke at dozens of conferences all around the US and abroad. He was educated at Williams College and the University of Virginia Law School.