Michael was appointed as His Majesty’s first Solicitor General for England and Wales in 2022 by Liz Truss, and then kept on by Rishi Sunak when he became Prime Minister.
His main duty was working alongside the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Scotland as the Law Officers - the senior legal advisers to the UK Government. They can be consulted on any area of law concerning the government, including EU and international law. They also had oversight of litigation involving the government, whether domestic or international.
As Solicitor General for England and Wales Michael had the same rights of audience as members of the Bar of Northern Ireland but he was ceremonially called to the Northern Ireland Bar in March 2023, as a symbolic commitment of the law officers to every part of the UK.
Michael has a particular interest in statutory interpretation having attended the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee, a Cabinet Sub-Committee, in order to advise where proposed legislation raised issues of particular legal difficulty, disagreement or importance.
As the Attorney General (AG)’s deputy, Michael was enabled by Statute to perform any of her functions. He also supported her in her superintendence of the Government Legal Department, the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Serious Fraud Office.
He was responsible for the Attorney General's public interest functions such as granting consent to the prosecution of certain offences such as offences under the Official Secrets Acts and some criminal and terrorism offences.
Michael also reviewed hundreds of sentences under the Unduly Lenient Sentencing scheme, deciding whether to refer to the Court of Appeal as being unduly lenient. He considered cases giving consent for an application to the High Court for a fresh inquest; and deciding whether to institute contempt proceedings. Michael appeared in the Court of Appeal and chaired Ministerial Board meetings. He spoke at events including the CPS leadership conference, Serous Fraud Office conference, the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime and to the Young Lawyers panel. He also chaired the Overseas Territories Attorney General's Conference in Montserrat in September 2023.