CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- M. Blane Michael, who grew up on a Grant County farm and became a federal judge, died Friday after a long illness. He was 68.
M. Blane Michael, who grew up on a Grant County farm and became a federal judge, died Friday after a long illness. He was 68.
Michael was involved in West Virginia Democratic politics before President Bill Clinton appointed him to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1993. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit includes West Virginia.
He worked as special counsel to Jay Rockefeller when Rockefeller was governor, and managed campaigns for Rockefeller and the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
Michael graduated from West Virginia University -- where he was student body president -- in 1965 with a degree in political science, and from New York University's law school in 1968.
"No one in my family of farmers had ever been a lawyer, and as a young boy I thought that being a trial lawyer would be the most exciting job imaginable," he said in an interview with an NYU alumni publication several years ago.
After law school, Michael worked at a private law firm in New York City. In 1971, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.
He returned to West Virginia the following year and set up a private practice in Petersburg. In 1977, he became Rockefeller's special counsel.
Rockefeller called Michael his "dearest friend and confidant."
"Unvarnished in his honesty, uncanny in his humor and unequaled in his humility, Blane was a formidable presence on the federal bench, with a moral and intellectual compass set hard for justice," Rockefeller said in a statement. "He was a brilliant judge who never took for granted the power and the responsibility of deciding the cases that impacted people's lives or righted serious wrongs."
In 1980, Michael became a partner in the firm now known as Jackson Kelly. He managed Rockefeller's 1980 gubernatorial re-election campaign, and then his 1984 and 1990 campaigns for the U.S. Senate. He also managed Byrd's Senate campaigns in 1982 and 1988.
Michael worked full-time in his law practice while managing the Senate campaigns, doing the political work on his lunch breaks, in the evenings and on weekends, according to the interview with NYU, in which he also said he enjoyed Charles Dickens novels and baseball.
In a 1993 interview with the Charleston Gazette, Michael described growing up with chicken and sheep on his family's farm near Petersburg, saying he never had a "grand scheme" to become a judge.
"I suppose that when I worked in the U. S. attorney's office in New York, and I argued appeals in the 2nd Circuit, I thought about it," he said in the interview. "I just didn't think it would ever be possible."
Michael treated everyone fairly, said Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, a longtime friend.
M. Blane Michael, who grew up on a Grant County farm and became a federal judge, died Friday after a long illness. He was 68.
Michael was involved in West Virginia Democratic politics before President Bill Clinton appointed him to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1993. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit includes West Virginia.
He worked as special counsel to Jay Rockefeller when Rockefeller was governor, and managed campaigns for Rockefeller and the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
Michael graduated from West Virginia University -- where he was student body president -- in 1965 with a degree in political science, and from New York University's law school in 1968.
"No one in my family of farmers had ever been a lawyer, and as a young boy I thought that being a trial lawyer would be the most exciting job imaginable," he said in an interview with an NYU alumni publication several years ago.
After law school, Michael worked at a private law firm in New York City. In 1971, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.
He returned to West Virginia the following year and set up a private practice in Petersburg. In 1977, he became Rockefeller's special counsel.
Rockefeller called Michael his "dearest friend and confidant."
"Unvarnished in his honesty, uncanny in his humor and unequaled in his humility, Blane was a formidable presence on the federal bench, with a moral and intellectual compass set hard for justice," Rockefeller said in a statement. "He was a brilliant judge who never took for granted the power and the responsibility of deciding the cases that impacted people's lives or righted serious wrongs."
In 1980, Michael became a partner in the firm now known as Jackson Kelly. He managed Rockefeller's 1980 gubernatorial re-election campaign, and then his 1984 and 1990 campaigns for the U.S. Senate. He also managed Byrd's Senate campaigns in 1982 and 1988.
Michael worked full-time in his law practice while managing the Senate campaigns, doing the political work on his lunch breaks, in the evenings and on weekends, according to the interview with NYU, in which he also said he enjoyed Charles Dickens novels and baseball.
In a 1993 interview with the Charleston Gazette, Michael described growing up with chicken and sheep on his family's farm near Petersburg, saying he never had a "grand scheme" to become a judge.
"I suppose that when I worked in the U. S. attorney's office in New York, and I argued appeals in the 2nd Circuit, I thought about it," he said in the interview. "I just didn't think it would ever be possible."
Michael treated everyone fairly, said Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, a longtime friend.
"He understood power. He understood how it could be abused. He understood how people with humble beginnings often didn't get the kind of breaks they deserved," he said. "He was very sensitive to being sure that the rule of law was applied in a way that was not only perceived by lawyers and judges to be fair, but operated that way in the ordinary person's life."
Goodwin said he rarely saw Michael without a bowtie, and that Michael had a great sense of humor that "was never at the expense of others."
Joseph Goodwin's brother, attorney Tom Goodwin, remembered Michael for his kindness, work ethic and intellect.
"Everything about him revealed that he was an extremely happy and satisfied man," said Tom Goodwin, who met Michael in 1962 when they were students at WVU and later served as Rockefeller's chief of staff in the governor's office.
Michael had "a wonderful laugh, a very healthy laugh," he said. "And he loved to laugh."
As a campaign manager, "he was very disciplined, totally and completely honest, and very ethical," he added. "[Michael] kept everything running on time."
In 2009, Michael delivered a lecture at NYU about the Fourth Amendment, which protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures. He discussed how important it is to guard citizens' privacy in the digital age.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Michael "was someone who always had a smile on his face, and he put one on yours, too."
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said the judge never forgot where he came from.
"Though renowned throughout the American bar, Judge Michael always remained a proud son of Grant County, West Virginia," he said in a statement. "His profound decency and sincere warmth earned the respect and the deep affection of all who met him."
Michael is survived by his wife, Mary Anne; his daughter, Cora, and her husband, Inti Einhorn.
A funeral service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday at St. John's Episcopal Church in Charleston. Friends may call from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home.
Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
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