Michael G. Rossetti

Michael G. Rossetti, 1977 – Michael is currently a partner in one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in Washington, D.C., Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. His specialty is American Indian law and he has testified before the United States Congress on Native American issues.

Michael began his career in private practice in Buffalo after his graduation from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1987. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney and then as a chief deputy to the New York Attorney General. While working for the Attorney General, he was appointed to act as liaison to the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington. He also represented New York State in the negotiation of the national tobacco settlement of 1998. He then served as the executive deputy and general counsel to New York State’s Office of the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities and as an assistant county attorney in Buffalo, before moving to Washington in 2001.

In Washington, Michael served for three years as personal counsel to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior during the George W. Bush administration. In that position, he assisted the Secretary in formulating and implementing policies regarding Indian economic development, gaming, and land acquisition; law enforcement; and homeland security. Michael remains tethered to his hometown through his philanthropic work. He has volunteered his time on behalf of the Williamsville Education Foundation, Inc. helping to secure substantial funding to support the District’s Space Lab Planetarium. He also has been actively involved with his high school reunions.

As a member of the Class of 1977, Michael spent his first two years of high school at North where he was a three-sport athlete. When East High opened, he entered the new school as a junior and served as captain of the varsity gymnastics team, a member of the student council and the inter-high school council. His political savvy was evident even then as he was elected senior class president and voted East’s “Big Man on Campus”, comparable to today’s “Homecoming King”.