|
Public Lawyer of the Year:
Steve Michel
Steve Michel has practiced law in New Mexico for 40 years. He was born in Chicago and graduated with a BA in History and Economics from Northwestern University. From 1978 to 1982, he attended law and business school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where he received J.D. and MBA degrees.
After law school, Steve moved to Roswell, N.M., and was an associate attorney with the Hinkle law firm. His goal was to live in the West, near the mountains, and practice public utility law, which he been exposed to in law school.
In 1984, Steve moved to Santa Fe, taking a job as an Assistant Attorney General under Paul Bardacke and later Hal Stratton. He spent five years in that office, initially in the civil division representing state agencies, and later in the energy unit – where he represented small utility ratepayers before what was then the N.M. Public Service Commission.
From 1989 through 2006, Steve was in private practice, mostly representing a group of large NM businesses that intervened as energy consumers in utility cases. Members of that group included large oil & gas firms, potash mines, technology companies and manufacturing firms. During this time, he also pro bono represented public interest groups and tribes in various matters, the most significant of which was contesting a large transmission line proposed to be located in sacred and beautiful landscapes in the Jemez Mountains near the Valles Caldera. His clients were NGO’s, tribes and pueblos. That pro bono effort, which lasted 5 years with 4 months of hearings, succeeded in halting the transmission line. The area he helped protect is now the Valle Caldera National Preserve within the National Park Service. In 1995, largely because of his work to protect that area, Steve received New Mexico State Bar’s Robert H. LaFollette Pro Bono Award.
In 2007, deeply concerned with climate change, Steve joined an environmental organization called Western Resource Advocates, where he worked until earlier this year. His work for that organization was mostly legal, though he also supervised clean energy advocacy in Utah and Arizona. During his time with WRA, Steve helped write important environmental legislation including New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Act and Energy Transition Act. He also developed climate rules for New Mexico which were adopted by the Richardson administration, but repealed under Governor Martinez. In 2016 Steve sued the U.S. Senate to compel it to consider the Merrick Garland nomination. The suit eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but was ultimately unsuccessful, being dismissed for lack of standing. Steve’s argument that the Senate had a Constitutional duty to consider, and not ignore, a President’s Supreme Court nominee has never been decided on the merits.
Steve believes public service is the highest calling for all of us and his ethic of public service goes beyond his legal work. He has served on numerous public boards, workgroups and task forces. He is a past board member and president of Kitchen Angels – a Santa Fe non-profit that distributes food to homebound individuals. He is also a Wilderness EMT, and has been a volunteer firefighter and search & rescue team member. As a member of New Mexico’s Medical Reserve Corp, Steve provided over 200 hours of volunteer time to assist COVID-19 patients at the Gallup Alternative Care Facility. And earlier this year he helped medically screen Asylum Seekers in Las Cruces.
Steve and his wife Sandra have travelled extensively, visiting all seven continents. His favorite place in the world is Nepal. He is also an avid backpacker, and has hiked the 485 mile Colorado Trail and over 1000 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Closer to home, Steve finds solace in our Pecos Wilderness. Steve is a (slow) runner, an animal lover and vegan.
| 
