LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 9, 2025--
It is with profound sadness that Cox Castle announces Michael Zischke, a partner and leading land use and environmental attorney, passed away on Thursday, January 2 nd. Mike was a partner in Cox Castle’s San Francisco office for nearly 18 years.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250109275871/en/
Survived by his wife Nadine and daughters Julie and Jessica, Mike will be fondly remembered by his colleagues as someone for whom the profession was always personal and who cared deeply about his work.
Mike was a talented and award-winning land use and environmental lawyer. He was recognized for his extensive knowledge in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) litigation and compliance. He co-authored the two-volume treatise Practice Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the CEQA treatise most often cited by California courts, which was first published in 1993 and is now in its second edition.
Over his 40+ year career, his commitment and passion for his work resulted in numerous professional accolades and countless published articles. For 22 consecutive years, Mike was ranked as one of California’s leading attorneys in both environmental law and real estate/land use by Chambers USA, one of the most prestigious awards in the legal industry. According to Chambers USA, Mike’s clients touted him as “one of the leading land use attorneys in the US" and “an excellent environmental attorney."
“Mike embodied so many of the characteristics we value here at Cox Castle,” observed Mathew Wyman, Chair of Cox Castle. “He possessed a deep commitment in service to the real estate industry, our clients, and the firm. He gave generously of his time, always willing to collaborate with his colleagues and mentor our young lawyers.But even more than that, what I think we will really miss at the firm, is Mike’s presence in the office. He genuinely cared deeply for his friends and colleagues, and he always took time to listen to and ask about the welfare of those around him. It goes without saying that he will be remembered as a preeminent lawyer whose impact will be long lasting, But for those of us lucky enough to have been able to spend time with Mike, he will always serve as an inspiration as we strive to move forward while honoring his legacy.”
“Mike had a true passion for the law, and he brought that to his practice as a leading partner at Cox Castle, ever since joining us in 2007,” observed Dwayne McKenzie, Managing Partner of Cox Castle. ”Mike was a mentor to many of us – partners and associates alike. His was always a voice of wisdom, reason, and wit. He was both a scholar and a lawyer’s lawyer, in every sense of the word. He was an extraordinary person and an outstanding lawyer. He will be sorely missed by all of us.”
Mike, a mentor and friend to many in the legal profession, was involved in numerous professional organizations. He was a founding member of the advisory board for the Center for Law, Energy & Environment at Berkeley Law, and was involved with Lambda Alpha (honorary land economics society), the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the California Building Industry Association, among many others. He received a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1982 and a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1977.
Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP
Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP was founded in Los Angeles in 1968, with the goal of providing superior and comprehensive legal services to businesses, institutions, and individuals in all aspects of the real estate, finance, and construction industries. Cox Castle is now one of the largest full-service law firms specializing in real estate in the United States with more than 140 transactional and litigation attorneys in its Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Francisco offices.
The firm has substantial expertise in matters involving land and improved property acquisitions and dispositions; joint ventures; single and multifamily residential development; land use, entitlement and regulatory compliance (including coastal commission and condemnation); office, industrial, retail and mixed-use development, leasing and management; commercial lending and institutional investment; loan workouts and financial restructuring; construction; resort and hospitality; labor and employment; risk management and insurance; environmental compliance; renewable energy and natural resources; and tax and estate planning. For more information, please visit www.coxcastle.com.
Mike Zischke (Photo: Business Wire)
President Donald Trump delivered what sounded like one of his typical meandering, grievance-laden campaign speeches on Friday, but it was where he did it — inside the U.S. Department of Justice — that mattered.
The appearance marked Trump’s clearest exertion yet of personal control over the country’s federal law enforcement apparatus, which is normally run by appointees who keep at least an arm’s length from the president to avoid the appearance that politics are governing prosecutorial decisions. Trump, instead, embraced the notion of the agency as his own personal tool of vengeance.
“As the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred,” Trump told the audience, with Attorney General Pam Bondi (who is technically the country’s chief law enforcement officer) and FBI Director Kash Patel in the audience.
One of Trump's favorite campaign songs, “YMCA,” played after he wrapped up his nearly hourlong address inside the department's ceremonial Great Hall.
Here’s a look at what Trump said, what the reality is and the significance of his words.
“The same scum you have been dealing with for years. Guys like Andrew Weissman, deranged Jack Smith. There’s a guy named Norm Eisen, I don’t even know what he looks like. His name is Norm Eisen of CREW; he’s been after me for nine years.”
Trump named lawyers and a legal nonprofit that he has tangled with over the years, which could serve as a roadmap for people he would like prosecuted by the officials in the room with him.
Trump named lawyer Eisen, but misidentified him as running the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which unsuccessfully sued to block Trump from running for reelection due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Eisen was with the organization during part of Trump’s first term but has since left.
Trump rained vitriol on CREW as well as Eisen, who remains staunchly opposed to Trump and co-founded an online publication, The Contrarian, to take on the new administration. Still, Trump claimed Eisen has been “violent,” which is laughable. He’s a lawyer who’s never used physical force toward Trump.
Weissman was lead prosecutor for the investigation into the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia during Trump’s first term. One of the people Weissman convicted in that probe, Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, watched the speech and was warmly introduced by Trump himself.
Trump also name-checked Smith, who was the special prosecutor who filed charges against Trump for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and for hoarding classified documents at his Florida resort.
Notably, the president didn’t name a single possible crime these lawyers or CREW committed other than opposing him.
“I believe that CNN and MSDNC, who literally write 97.6% bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party. And in my opinion, they are really corrupt and they are illegal. What they do is illegal.”
This was a remarkable moment — the president of the United States telling his Department of Justice that he believes the media are illegal because they write bad things about him.
Needless to say, CNN and MSNBC (which Trump tweaked by changing its initials) are not actually part of the Democratic Party. No matter if you think their coverage leans in that direction, there’s no actual, legal connection.
Even if there was, the First Amendment allows political groups to criticize a rival politician. It certainly allows the media to do so, regardless of any perceived ideological bias.
"What a difference a rigged and crooked election had on our country, when you think about it. And the people who did this to us should go to jail. They should go to jail.”
This is one of Trump's favorite subjects — how he didn't really lose the 2020 election. He did, though.
Trump has claimed falsely that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election, but the evidence says otherwise. Trump lost dozens of court challenges, including some before judges he appointed, his own attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of fraud on a scale that could have tipped the election, and reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss all affirmed Biden’s win.
It's unclear who “the people who did this” are in Trump's threat, but when a president says someone should go to jail while addressing the Department of Justice — especially about something that never happened — that's significant.
“I pardoned hundreds of political prisoners who had been grossly mistreated. We removed the senior FBI officials who misdirected resources to send SWAT teams after grandmothers and J6 hostages. And it was a great honor for me, a great honor to fire James Comey.”
Trump claimed he'd end what he called “weaponization” of the Department of Justice, but then quickly boasted of pardoning those who attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his election loss on Jan. 6.
Trump also boasted of firing Comey, who was the FBI director in his first term. It was one of Trump's most controversial acts then, but seems almost quaint now. The man whom Trump nominated to replace Comey, Christopher Wray, stepped aside in December after years of being targeted by Trump, who has now replaced him with Patel, a loyalist who never worked in the bureau.
The president boasting of firing top FBI officials is a clear signal to those inside the Department of Justice.
“They wanted to scare the hell out of the judges. And they do it. How do you stop it? ... What do you do to get rid of it? You convict Trump.”
Trump has personally singled out judges who ruled against him for attack since he first ran for president in 2016. But, remarkably, Trump implied that the adverse legal decisions against him have been because his opponents are threatening judges.
In reality, the judge who presided over Trump’s criminal in New York, Juan Merchan, received threats after Trump repeatedly attacked him and his family. Judicial organizations have reported a sharp rise in threats as Trump increasingly complained the legal system was “rigged” against him as he fought four separate prosecutions during his campaign.
Trump did accurately note negative coverage that conservative justices on the nation’s highest court have received over some of their rulings and conduct. He has reason to want those justices to be sympathetic to him because several of his administration’s initiatives are tangled up in litigation headed straight to the Supreme Court.
Trucks providing a security barrier are in place around the Department of Justice before President Donald Trump speaks Friday, March 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump gestures from the stairs of Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, March 14, 2025, (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
