Michael M. Giel
Associate

JACKSONVILLE OFFICE
Email: mgiel@vbwr.com
Main Phone: 904-355-1700
Direct Phone: 904-394-0422
Fax: 904-355-1797
Secretary: Gwen Overstreet
Email: goverstreet@vbwr.com

AREAS OF PRACTICE
Mr. Giel focuses primarily in the areas of complex commercial litigation, business litigation, and appellate practice.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND
Mr. Giel received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from the University of South Florida in 2002.  In 2005, he earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the Chicago Journal of International Law.  After graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Emerson R. Thompson, Jr. of Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

Before joining Volpe, Bajalia, Wickes, Rogerson & Wachs, Mr. Giel was an associate with the Jacksonville office of McGuireWoods LLP.  Prior to attending the University of Chicago or the University of South Florida, he served in the United States Marine Corps from 1996 to 2000 as a machine gunner.

PUBLICATIONS

• Key Considerations for Litigating Class Action Waivers within Arbitration Agreements, Part II, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT, Summer 2009
  
  
• Key Considerations for Litigating Class Action Waivers within Arbitration Agreements, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT, Winter 2009
  
  
• Accounting for Accountants' Breaches of Fiduciary Duty in Motions to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment, ABA BUSINESS TORTS JOURNAL, Summer 2007
  
  
• Litigating Lost Profits for New Businesses, ABA COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS LITIGATION NEWSLETTER, Spring 2007
  
  
• Co-author, Course Outline, Recent Developments in Commercial Litigation, Civil Trial Certification Review Course, February 2008
  
  
• "Practically Capable of Maritime Transport": Semantics and the Definition of "Vessel" after Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co., ABA ADMIRALTY & MARITIME LAW COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER, Spring 2007
  
  
• Co-author, Fifteen Common Mistakes in Appellate Briefs, THE RECORD: JOURNAL OF APPELLATE PRACTICE SECTION, Winter/Spring 2007; Reprinted, ABA TIPS APPELLATE ADVOCACY COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER, Summer 2007
  
  
• Avoiding Fundamentally Erroneous Jury Instructions: Pointers for Counsel in Criminal Trials and Appeals, FLORIDA BAR JOURNAL, July/August 2007
  
  
• Young Lawyers Focus: Making the Most of Your Appellate Clerkship, ABA APPELLATE PRACTICE JOURNAL, Spring 2007
  
  
• Apprendi in Florida: Jury Findings on Sentencing Factors and Elements, THE RECORD: JOURNAL OF FLORIDA’S APPELLATE PRACTICE SECTION, Fall 2006
  

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• American Bar Association
• Co-chair, Young Lawyers Subcommittee, Appellate Practice Committee, Section of Litigation, 2008-2009
• Editorial Board Member, Commercial and Business Litigation Committee Newsletter, Section of Litigation, 2008-2009
• Newsletter Assistant Editor, 11th Circuit Reporter, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Appellate Advocacy Committee, 2006-2007
  
  
• Florida Bar
• Editorial Board Member, Florida Bar News/Florida Bar Journal, 2008-2011
• Assistant Editor, The Record, Appellate Practice Section, 2008
• Assistant Editor, The Journal: Case Law Update 2008, Business Law Section
  
  
• Jacksonville Bar Association
• Appellate Law Committee
  
  
• Inns of Court
  • Associate Member, Chester Bedell Inn of Court, 2008-2009
  • Associate Member, Dunn-Blount Inn of Court, 2006-2007

CIVIC AFFILIATIONS

• Gator Bowl Committee, Class of 2008
  
  
• IMPACT Jax
  
  
• University of Chicago Law School Alumni Admissions Committee
  
  
• University of South Florida Alumni Association
  • ACT Committee, 2007-2009
  • Jacksonville Chapter Leadership Team, 2007-2009
  • Tampa Chapter Secretary, 2006-2007

BAR ADMISSIONS

• U.S. Supreme Court, 2009
  
  
• Florida Bar, 2005
  
  
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2005
  
  
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, 2005
  
  
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, 2006
  
  
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 2006

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• Avoiding Fundamentally Erroneous Jury Instructions, Orange County State Attorney's Office, Orlando, Florida, April 2008