People
Michael is an energy lawyer based in King & Spalding's Tokyo office. He advises Japanese trading houses, Korean utilities, and international oil companies on commercial transactions across the global energy sector, with a focus on oil & gas, LNG, and FPSO project finance. His practice also covers hydrogen, ammonia, solar, and CCS.
Michael regularly handles EPC, terminal use, vessel charter, and product offtake matters across the conventional and new energy space. He also completed an 18-month secondment to the energy legal department of a major Japanese trading company in Tokyo and, prior to joining King & Spalding, spent several years working in-house for a US upstream oil & gas company, in Houston and Kuala Lumpur.
Michael is admitted to practice law in Texas and is qualified as a Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi (Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association). He is fluent in Japanese (JLPT N1).
J.D./M.B.A., University of Oklahoma Law Center
Certificate in Japanese Language Studies, Keio University
B.A. Economics, Randolph-Macon College, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Japan Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi
Texas
Association of International Energy Negotiators
Japan – Gaikokuhojimubengoshi (Admitted 12/25/2025; Reg. #G1387)
English
Japanese
February 19, 2025
King & Spalding advises ACWA Power on its purchase of ENGIE power generation and water desalination assets in Bahrain and Kuwait
February 19, 2025
K&S advises ACWA Power on its acquisition of assets worth $693M from French utility developer ENGIE
January 15, 2025
King & Spalding Earns Multiple Top-Tier Rankings in 2025 Legal 500 Asia-Pacific Guide
MODEC, Inc. (MODEC), Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui), Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni), and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) as sponsors on the USD 205 million sale of the FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills operating offshore Ghana to Tullow Oil.
MODEC, Mitsui, Marubeni, and MOL as sponsors on the USD 969 million project financing of the FPSO Anita Garibaldi MV33 offshore Brazil and related 25-year charter contract with Petrobras.
MODEC, Mitsui, Marubeni, and MOL as sponsors on the USD 1.35 billion project financing of the FPSO Almirante Barroso MV32 offshore Brazil and related 21-year charter contract with Petrobras.
See more
November 1, 2025
Policy changes to the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)
June 13, 2024
Price-Gap Subsidy Program – Japan Enacts Act on Promotion of Hydrogen Society
December 21, 2023
Japan Proposes New Hydrogen Price-Gap Subsidy
February 19, 2025
King & Spalding advises ACWA Power on its purchase of ENGIE power generation and water desalination assets in Bahrain and Kuwait
February 19, 2025
K&S advises ACWA Power on its acquisition of assets worth $693M from French utility developer ENGIE
January 15, 2025
King & Spalding Earns Multiple Top-Tier Rankings in 2025 Legal 500 Asia-Pacific Guide
MODEC, Inc. (MODEC), Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui), Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni), and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) as sponsors on the USD 205 million sale of the FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills operating offshore Ghana to Tullow Oil.
MODEC, Mitsui, Marubeni, and MOL as sponsors on the USD 969 million project financing of the FPSO Anita Garibaldi MV33 offshore Brazil and related 25-year charter contract with Petrobras.
MODEC, Mitsui, Marubeni, and MOL as sponsors on the USD 1.35 billion project financing of the FPSO Almirante Barroso MV32 offshore Brazil and related 21-year charter contract with Petrobras.
See more
November 1, 2025
Policy changes to the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)
June 13, 2024
Price-Gap Subsidy Program – Japan Enacts Act on Promotion of Hydrogen Society
December 21, 2023
Japan Proposes New Hydrogen Price-Gap Subsidy
February 19, 2025
King & Spalding advises ACWA Power on its purchase of ENGIE power generation and water desalination assets in Bahrain and Kuwait
February 19, 2025
K&S advises ACWA Power on its acquisition of assets worth $693M from French utility developer ENGIE
January 15, 2025
King & Spalding Earns Multiple Top-Tier Rankings in 2025 Legal 500 Asia-Pacific Guide
J.D./M.B.A., University of Oklahoma Law Center
Certificate in Japanese Language Studies, Keio University
B.A. Economics, Randolph-Macon College, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Japan Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi
Texas
Association of International Energy Negotiators
Japan – Gaikokuhojimubengoshi (Admitted 12/25/2025; Reg. #G1387)
English
Japanese