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Partner
Litigation & Intellectual Property Practice
Richmond
(804) 788-8716 Phone
(804) 788-8218 Fax
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| Practices |
Appellate
Coal
Corporate and
Securities
Litigation
Litigation
National Business
Tort and Product
Liability
Telecommunications
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Litigation practice focuses on complex commercial disputes, appellate proceedings, administrative and constitutional law, securities litigation, business torts, and federal Indian law. Other practice areas include construction litigation, trusts and estates, products liability, tax and ERISA disputes and zoning cases.
Relevant Experience 
- Ongoing representation of the U.S. Department of Energy in license proceedings before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Yucca Mountain repository.
- Successfully represented coal associations in three appeals before the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing injunctions that prohibited federal and state agencies from issuing permits for surface coal operations. The appeals involved constitutional and regulatory issues regarding the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.
- Represented numerous parties in a wide variety of other appeals in federal courts throughout the country and in the Virginia Supreme Court; these appeals have included First Amendment and other constitutional issues, federal regulatory issues, and contract disputes.
- Successfully defended bank holding company, broker/dealer subsidiary, and individual registered representative, in a four week jury trial in federal court, in a $60 million lawsuit alleging violations of RICO, federal and state securities laws, and common law claims arising from losses in options trading account.
- Successfully defended national broker/dealer in federal lawsuit seeking to enjoin disposition of pledged shares to satisfy margin debt.
- Successfully represented federally recognized Indian tribe and investors in litigation regarding a telephone and Internet based lottery. Litigation was pursued in federal and state court in several states, and in tribal court, to block actions by state attorneys general to enjoin tribal operations, and raised a variety of constitutional and regulatory issues under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- Successfully represented major defense contractor, in a three week jury trial in federal court, that had sued competitor for theft of trade secrets in design of equipment used in U.S. Navy warships.
- Successfully defended major electric utility in several lawsuits, in trials in federal and state court, brought by various independent power producers over pricing and other provisions in the parties' long term power supply contracts.
- Successfully represented national hospital chain, in state court trial, in multi-million dollar property tax refund suit.
- Represented a number of private employers and localities that sued an insurance company for fraud in the administration of ERISA plans.
Background
- Judicial Clerk, Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr., 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1986–87
Membership
- Member, Virginia State Bar
- Member, American, Virginia and Richmond Bar Associations
- Admitted to practice: Virginia; Second, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of International Trade
Education - J.D., Yale Law School, Senior Editor, Yale Law Journal; Business Editor, Yale Journal of International Law, 1986
- B.A., Duke University, summa cum laude, Economics, 1983
Languages
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Michael Shebelskie
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