Michael Downey

Downey Law Group LLC

Michael P. Downey is a legal ethics lawyer and founder of Downey Law Group LLC, a Saint Louis law firm devoted to legal ethics, lawyer discipline defense, and the law of lawyering. Michael regularly represents lawyers, judges, and other professionals in litigation and discipline matters in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. Michael also serves as outside general counsel to more than 50 law firms, advising them on legal ethics, risk management, and related issues. He has submitted expert reports or testified as an expert in more than 40 proceedings.

In addition to his law practice, Michael has taught legal ethics and law firm practice at Washington University and St. Louis University Schools of Law and serves on the Missouri Bar Board of Governors. Michael also chaired the ABA Law Practice Division and the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professional Conduct, and is a past member of the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Regulation. He has presented more than 700 times and published more than 180 articles on legal ethics.

Michael graduated with honors from Georgetown University and first in his class from Washington University School of Law. After clerking for the Hon. Pasco Bowman, then Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Michael entered private practice in 1999, practicing at firms with between 10 and 450 lawyers before starting his own two-lawyer firm in 2015.

Michael has received numerous professional recognitions, including being named a “Best Lawyer in America” in Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law and a Super Lawyer “Top 50 Attorney in St. Louis.” In 2014, Missouri Lawyers Weekly named Michael a “Most Influential Lawyer” as the “go-to legal ethics lawyer in Missouri.”