About Michael J.
Michael J. Conlan began his academic path at Rutgers College, where he earned an A.B. in 1978. He returned to Rutgers for law school and received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law in 1993. Those institutions bookend a period of study that spans the liberal arts and professional legal training. The combination of a long undergraduate formation and a later legal degree shapes a practice built on steady preparation rather than sudden specialization.
After law school, Conlan entered private practice and over time assumed leadership roles at his firm. He is a partner at Backes & Hill, L.L.P., where he has practiced for many years. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and holds admission to several federal courts, including the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Those admissions have allowed him to work on matters that cross state lines and to take cases into the federal appellate system. He has more than three decades of legal experience since completing his J.D.
Conlan maintains active ties to the local legal community. He is a member of the Mercer County Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association. Outside the bar, he serves on the Board of Trustees for the United Way of Greater Mercer County. That role places him in a civic setting where legal and nonprofit concerns overlap and where governance and community needs meet.
Colleagues describe Conlan’s practice as grounded in courtroom procedure and federal-state practice. His admissions enable him to handle matters in both trial and appellate settings. Over the years he has navigated filings in federal district courts and appellate dockets in the Third Circuit, as well as cases in state courts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The record of admissions suggests steady involvement in litigation and appellate work rather than a narrow niche.
His approach to cases is procedural and pragmatic. He draws on an education that began in the liberal arts and continued through professional law training to manage casework that moves between trial courts and appeals. At Backes & Hill, L.L.P., he works alongside other partners and attorneys on litigation and appellate matters. He currently practices at Backes & Hill, L.L.P., handling matters in state and federal courts and participating in appellate proceedings.
