Michael P. Daniels

Daniels

Michael P. Daniels

Michael Paul Daniels, an international trade lawyer from Bethesda, MD, died on December 17, 2023.



He leaves behind his beloved wife and friend, Nancy-Jean, his six children: Alex, Aaron, Anthony, Maria, Lisa, and Rachel; his stepchildren: Jonathan and Laura Seigel, his sisters-in-law: Effie Walsh, Bess Stamatakos and Helen Sagan; his nephews and nieces, eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.



During a 50-year career based in Washington, DC, Mr. Daniels was committed to liberal policies and represented international trade interests in the United States and abroad. He practiced before U.S. Courts and agencies, the U.S. Congress, the International Trade Commission, and the World Trade Organization.



In 1968, he founded his own firm, Daniels, Houlihan, and Palmeter, which became one of the leading international trade groups. After merging with another major firm, he headed the Washington office. Concurrently, he founded and was president of the International Business and Economic Research Corporation. Before retiring in 2010, he became a senior partner in several international law firms and represented interests in the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.



He maintained a congenial workplace. As one employee remembered, "He treated people right and taught them." Many of the young professionals and attorneys he mentored went on to become leaders of the trade bar.



Raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, he was the son of parents who immigrated as children from Russia and Romania. He entered the College of the University of Chicago at 16, graduated in 1949, and then graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1952. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army in Korea during the war and was awarded a Bronze Star for Meritorious Services for his work in the Korean War Crimes Commission. During this period, he developed a lifelong interest in Asia and later represented interests in Japan, Korea, and China. In 1955, he was admitted to the Bar and practiced law in the field of international trade regulation in Washington, DC for over five decades.



After the war, he attended night classes in Japanese for two years at the Georgetown University School of Languages and Linguistics. In 1958, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and spent a year in Japan under the guidance of Tokyo University Law Department. To supplement his scholarship, he had a brief stint as an actor on a popular Japanese TV soap opera.



His marriage at 19 to Lora Lee Daniels ended in divorce. In 1964, he married Elaine Makris Daniels who, after a happy 44-year marriage, died in 2008. In 2012, he married Nancy-Jean Ballard Seigel.



Mr. Daniels was an avid reader of history and a diehard Washington Nationals fan. He loved the arts, especially music, and attended operas and concerts regularly in Washington and in Europe. He served on the boards of the Northern Virginia Opera and the Bel Cantante Opera; he was on the Advisory Committee of the Amalfi Music and Arts Festival and was General Counsel and Director of Development for the Fund for Art and Culture. Recently, he gave imaginative talks on current events to a group of senior citizens at Maplewood Park Place. Despite all these accomplishments, he confessed to one major disappointment: that he wasn't asked to become second baseman for the New York Giants.



His last years were happily spent at Maplewood Park Place with Nancy-Jean, his wife and opera enthusiast.



The family welcomes friends at a Visitation on Tuesday, December 26, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Joseph Gawlers Sons, 5130 Wisconsin Ave NW. The burial will be private.



A Celebration of Michael Daniels life will be held on January 17, 2024, at Maplewood Park Place, 9707 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD between 2 to 4 p.m. Friends and family are welcome.



Donations in Michael Daniels memory may be made to Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University and to Vocal Arts DC.