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.
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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)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after the audacious U.S. military operation in Venezuela, President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests, while his top diplomat declared the communist government in Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”
The comments from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the ouster of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro underscore that the U.S. administration is serious about taking a more expansive role in the Western Hemisphere.
With thinly veiled threats, Trump is rattling hemispheric friends and foes alike, spurring a pointed question around the globe: Who's next?
“It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
Asked during an interview with The Atlantic earlier on Sunday what the U.S.-military action in Venezuela could portend for Greenland, Trump replied: “They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know.”
Trump, in his administration's National Security Strategy published last month, laid out restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” as a central guidepost for his second go-around in the White House.
Trump has also pointed to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which rejects European colonialism, as well as the Roosevelt Corollary — a justification invoked by the U.S. in supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S. — as he's made his case for an assertive approach to American neighbors and beyond.
Trump has even quipped that some now refer to the fifth U.S. president's foundational document as the “Don-roe Doctrine.”
Saturday's dead-of-night operation by U.S. forces in Caracas and Trump’s comments on Sunday heightened concerns in Denmark, which has jurisdiction over the vast mineral-rich island of Greenland.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a statement that Trump has "no right to annex" the territory. She also reminded Trump that Denmark already provides the United States, a fellow member of NATO, broad access to Greenland through existing security agreements.
“I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. to stop threatening a historically close ally and another country and people who have made it very clear that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.
Denmark on Sunday also signed onto a European Union statement underscoring that “the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future must be respected” as Trump has vowed to “run” Venezuela and pressed the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to get in line.
Trump on Sunday mocked Denmark’s efforts at boosting Greenland’s national security posture, saying the Danes have added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.
Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled by a social media post following the raid by a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, Katie Miller. The post shows an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the Stars and Stripes accompanied by the caption: “SOON."
“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Amb. Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump's influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
During his presidential transition and in the early months of his return to the White House, Trump repeatedly called for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has pointedly not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island that belongs to an ally.
The issue had largely drifted out of the headlines in recent months. Then Trump put the spotlight back on Greenland less than two weeks ago when he said he would appoint Republican Gov. Jeff Landry as his special envoy to Greenland.
The Louisiana governor said in his volunteer position he would help Trump “make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Meanwhile, concern simmered in Cuba, one of Venezuela’s most important allies and trading partners, as Rubio issued a new stern warning to the Cuban government. U.S.-Cuba relations have been hostile since the 1959 Cuban revolution.
Rubio, in an appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press,” said Cuban officials were with Maduro in Venezuela ahead of his capture.
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.” The secretary of state added that Cuban bodyguards were also in charge of “internal intelligence” in Maduro’s government, including “who spies on who inside, to make sure there are no traitors.”
Trump said that “a lot” of Cuban guards tasked with protecting Maduro were killed in the operation. The Cuban government said in a statement read on state television on Sunday evening that 32 officers were killed in the U.S. military operation.
Trump also said that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, is in tatters and will slide further now with the ouster of Maduro, who provided the Caribbean island subsidized oil.
“It's going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It's going down for the count.”
Cuban authorities called a rally in support of Venezuela’s government and railed against the U.S. military operation, writing in a statement: “All the nations of the region must remain alert, because the threat hangs over all of us.”
Rubio, a former Florida senator and son of Cuban immigrants, has long maintained Cuba is a dictatorship repressing its people.
“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live — and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States," Rubio said.
Cubans like 55-year-old biochemical laboratory worker Bárbara Rodríguez were following developments in Venezuela. She said she worried about what she described as an “aggression against a sovereign state.”
“It can happen in any country, it can happen right here. We have always been in the crosshairs,” Rodríguez said.
AP writers Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, and Darlene Superville traveling aboard Air Force One contributed reporting.
In this photo released by the White House, President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Molly Riley/The White House via AP)
