As Executive Director, Michael is responsible for AVLF’s day-to-day operations, managing its relationships in the community and overseeing all of the Foundation’s provision of legal services. Michael previously served as the Director of Housing and Consumer Programs at AVLF, managing a variety of programs that provide legal representation to low-income individuals and litigating in the areas of landlord-tenant law, unpaid wages, debt-defense and debt collection. Michael, who holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, spent his final year of law school studying at Harvard Law School and clerked for the Honorable Catherine C. Blake of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore before beginning his legal career. In addition to his work at AVLF, Michael sits on the executive committee of HouseATL and of the board of directors of Lawyers for Equal Justice, one of the country’s largest legal incubator programs. Michael has received numerous awards in recognition of his work in the community, including the Daily Report’s “40 Under 40 – On the Rise Class of 2014,” the Anti-Defamation League’s “Stuart Eizenstat Young Lawyer Award,” the Georgia State College of Law’s Public Interest Law Association’s “Serving Others and Achieving Results (S.O.A.R.)” award, and the Atlanta Bar Association’s Rita A. Sheffey Award.