Michael Orlik, an expert on highway law and rights of way, has died aged 82.
Michael was born in 1943 and educated at St. Paul’s School, London and Keble College, Oxford, where he read History. After a year teaching in Ghana with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), Michael joined West Sussex County Council where he qualified as a solicitor in 1970.
He held increasingly senior local-government roles in West Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Dorset, culminating in the position of Chief Executive and Town Clerk of Surrey Heath Borough Council in 1984. In 1990 Michael moved into private practice, becoming a partner at Needham and James in Birmingham, which later merged with Dibb Lupton Alsop. He joined Lodders, a leading Midlands legal firm in 2002.
Michael specialised in planning law and became one of the leading UK authorities on footpaths and byways. He was instrumental in securing changes to the law on compensation for compulsory purchases, ensuring advanced payments to help displaced landowners pay off their debts during lengthy negotiations. In 1993 he wrote 'An Introduction to Highway Law', which is now in its 4th edition. After retiring in 2013, he continued working part-time for Lodders until shortly before his death. In 2020 the Birmingham Law Society presented Michael with a Special Award, recognising his then 50 years in the profession.
He was admired by his colleagues in the legal profession not only for his intellect, but also for his politeness, kindness and warmth.
Alongside the law, Michael’s other great passions were his family, history and support for the voluntary sector.
Michael enjoyed two very happy marriages, first with Rebecca Beels and then with Susan Pitts. Both wives’ lives were unfortunately cut short by cancer. In their seventies both Michael and Susan completed MA’s in History at the University of Birmingham.
A man of strong principles, he was an active supporter of the Edgbaston Labour Party and generously supported many British and international charities, including VSO. He also established a programme supporting technical apprenticeships in the West Midlands which will continue posthumously.
Throughout his life – even when helping his beloved partners or suffering himself from pancreatic cancer from 2023 to 2026 – Michael remained a positive and eternally optimistic man, seeing the potential in every person and always seeking to help colleagues, family, friends and charitable causes.
Michael died peacefully at his Edgbaston home on 31st January 2026. He is much missed by his two sons and their wives, four grandchildren, and a very wide circle of relatives and friends.
Phillip Orlik, one of his two sons
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