Michael W. Ridgeway

Michael Ridgeway's legal experience ranges from representing individuals and companies to serving as General Counsel for both domestic and foreign government financial regulatory agencies. In addition to general litigation and appeals, Michael has prosecuted and defended state and federal administrative proceedings, written and lobbied for legislation, initiated and supervised numerous insurance company receiverships, successfully challenged the constitutionality of a state tax, served as a mediator and arbitrator, served as an expert witness in insurance-related cases, participated in the development of international financial regulatory standards, and advised on corporate governance, ethics and business/legal strategy.

From 2011 through 2015, Michael served as General Counsel and Board Secretary for the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the Dubai government agency that regulates financial services in or from the Dubai International Financial Centre. In that role, he was the primary legal advisor for the Chief Executive and Board of Directors and represented the Government of Dubai in a wide variety of matters. He was also Dean of the DFSA's two-year financial regulator training program for newly-hired university graduates.

Michael previously served the State of Oklahoma as General Counsel for the Oklahoma Insurance Department and counsel for the Real Estate Appraiser Board. He has also been self-employed in private practice, where his focus has included general business and insurance law, including as a consulting or testifying expert for other law firms.

A 1994 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Michael was Editor- in-Chief of the American Indian Law Review, an Associate Editor of the Oklahoma Law Review, and an intern for a U.S. Magistrate Judge and Cleveland County Legal Aid. During his second and third years of law school, he was employed by the law school as a Teaching Assistant for Appellate Advocacy and Legal Research and Writing classes. He has a B.A. in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and more recent postgraduate training in leadership and corporate governance from Queen’s College (Canada), Ashridge School of Business (UK), and Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance (UAE).

Michael's wife, Judy, is also an attorney. They have five adult children who have embarked on their respective careers from San Francisco to South Carolina. Michael and Judy live in a log house on a small ranch in far east Norman, Oklahoma.