Michael Kaplan is an experienced and successful trial attorney, bringing creative solutions to a variety of subject areas, including commercial and environmental litigation, bankruptcy, admiralty law, product liability, constitutional law and labor law. His interest in admiralty law stems from the ten years he worked as a longshoreman in the Port of New Orleans and in other maritime-related industries and activities before entering law school. Michael, in concert with other attorneys at Preti Flaherty, has engaged in large-scale legal efforts on behalf of Maine's railroads, power generators and other industries to overturn unfair regulations and obtain regulatory approvals.

Michael grew up in Portland and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1967 to 1969. He left to work in Boston and New Orleans and graduated from the University of New Orleans in 1982 with a degree in labor studies, a degree program he wrote himself. He is a 1985 magna cum laude graduate of Tulane University School of Law, where he received the Order of the Coif. He was on the Board of Student Editors and was articles editor for the Tulane Law Review. He is the author of "Bergman v. United States: A Duty to Citizens Arises" and "Is Labor a Widget: A Comparative Study" for the Law Review.

He joined Preti Flaherty in 1986. Previously, he was a law clerk for the Honorable Collins J. Seitz of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Wilmington, Delaware. He was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in America.

Michael is a member of the Maine State, Federal and American Bar Associations; a Proctor member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States; and the Maine Chapter of the Propeller Club of the United States, an association within the maritime industry.

He lives in Portland with his wife, Molly R. Chancey, and their children, Matthew, Lindsay and Eva.

Admissions
Maine

Education
J.D., Tulane University, 1985 (Magna Cum Laude)
B.G.S., University of New Orleans, 1982

Languages
French