Michael Howell was born in Farmington, New Mexico and grew up there and in the oil field towns of Odessa and San Angelo, Texas with a brief stent in Aberdeen, Scotland. He graduated from San Angelo Central High School and followed that education earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M in Geology with an Engineering Option (essentially a Civil Engineering minor).

Michael is a limited partner at Reich & Binstock, LLP. His practice is 99 percent litigation and he focus most of that time in the areas of toxic torts, environmental litigation, oil and gas cases, commercial litigation, and products liability. He has been licensed as an attorney in Texas since 2000. His other bar admissions are listed below. His practice is nation-wide having represented individuals or appeared in cases from: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and Maryland.

He is a frequent presenter on groundwater contamination cases and has published legal articles on litigating contamination cases, natural resource damages, and expert admissibility issues. Before becoming an attorney Michael worked for nearly a decade as an environmental consultant, dealing with groundwater, surface water, soil, and air pollution issues around the United States and in South and Central America. He is a licensed professional geologist in Texas and Illinois (inactive status). He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree at South Texas College of Law in Houston in 1999 where he made the Dean's List on more than one occasion.

Court Admissions:

• Supreme Court of Texas and all lower Texas Courts.
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
• Various State and Federal Courts on a pro hac vice basis.

Education:

• Texas A&M University (B.S., Geology, Engineering Option, 1991)
• South Texas College of Law (J.D. 1999)
• Phi Delta Phi Legal Honor Fraternity

• Professional Geologist Texas - (Active)
• Professional Geologist Illinois - (Inactive)

• Toxic & Environmental Torts
• Oil & Gas Cases
• Personal Injury
• Dangerous Products (Products Liability)
• Commercial Litigation

Publications and Presentations:

• Presenter Litigating Groundwater Contamination Cases, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, January 2008.
• Co-author of Environmental Contamination Treatise: Overview of the Litigation Process, Chapter 8 in WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PROPERTY (Robert A. Simons ed., Environmental Law Institute 2006); reprinted at Gary Mason et al., Environmental Contamination Treatise: Overview of the Litigation Process, 37 THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, 10057 (2007).
• Co-presenter Ten Things Every Lawyer Should Know About Litigating Groundwater Cases, MEALEY'S GROUNDWATER LITIGATION CONFERENCE, September 26-27, 2005, Marina Del Rey, California.
• Michael Howell, No Science Allowed: Civil Courts Block Expert Testimony More Often Than Criminal Courts, TEXAS LAWYER, September 12, 2005 at 29.
• Presenter Working with Expert Witnesses, KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL PRE-TRIAL PREPARATION IN TEXAS, National Business Institute CLE, January 2005.
• Michael Howell, An Overview of Natural Resource Damage Assessment Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, 5 LEX TERRA 7 (2000).
• Mike Howell and Leslie Barras, Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDA) Under OPA '90, THE INSIDE TRACK, September 1997, at 1.

Associations:

• State Bar of Texas
  • Environmental Section
  • Litigation Section
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Texas Aggie Bar Association
• Texas Association of Environmental Professionals
• Houston Bar Association
  • Environmental Law
  • Litigation
• American Association for Justice
  • Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts
  • Products Liability Section
• American Bar Association
• Christian Trial Lawyers Association
• Nominated - Million Dollar Advocates