Source: https://www.kantorlaw.net/attorneys/michelle-l-roberts/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 00:25:35+00:00

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Since 2005, Michelle Roberts has been a successful advocate for disabled individuals and employees. Michelle specializes in claims for benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), specifically claims for disability benefits. Michelle has helped numerous clients obtain short and long -term disability benefits from insurance companies that had wrongfully denied their claims.
Michelle serves as the President for the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She is an editor of the ABA’s Section of Labor & Employment Law’s Employee Benefits Committee (EBC) Newsletter and has recently been appointed to serve on the Board of Senior Editors of the Employee Benefits Law book. She has also been appointed to a three-year term as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council (2019-2021). She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. In 2018, Michelle was named a Top 100 and Top 50 Women “Super Lawyer” by Northern California Super Lawyers Magazine. Michelle has been named a “Super Lawyer” every year since 2015 (previously named a “Rising Star” for 2012-2014). She also received the 2015 ALRP Volunteer of the Year award and the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction award. Michelle served as a co-chair of the Ethics subcommittee of the ABA’s Section of Labor & Employment Law’s Employee Benefits Committee (EBC) from 2009 through 2014. She served as co-chair of the Welfare Plans – Benefit Claims and Social Media subcommittees from 2014-2015. Additionally, from 2013-2015, Michelle served as an EBC liaison to the Section’s Diversity in the Legal Profession Standing Committee.
The theme of Michelle’s life has been a determination to fight for the underdog. Her work is a natural extension of that theme. She values hard work above most other things in her life. She often finds herself preoccupied with how to fix a client’s problem or how to fix ERISA on a larger scale. Helping clients with disabilities became a personal mission of hers after seeing her father, a disabled veteran, struggle to work and support his family while dealing with the consequences of debilitating medical conditions. She likes to think she inherited her strong work ethic, compassion, and desire to serve from her father. Michelle also values taking advantage of every opportunity for personal growth, and is always looking for a way to become a better person. Fighting for clients and raising children in a busy city is pretty all consuming, but she is as happy as she’s ever been, and wouldn’t have it any other way. For fun and relaxation, Michelle enjoys the ritual of Soul Cycle in the mornings so that she can come into the office with a clear head and ready to face the challenges that may lie ahead. She also tries to practice mindfulness throughout the day, which helps her stay calm in stressful situations. At the end of the day, she enjoys listening to music on her commute home, and then seeing the smiling faces of her two kids when she picks them up from school. In addition to work and family, Michelle volunteers with the Federal Bar Association, the Legal Aid at Work Workers’ Rights Clinic, and the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. She hopes to show her kids by example that giving to others is the best way to lead a life of fulfillment.
Barnes v. AT&T Pension Benefit Plan-Nonbargained Program, 3 F.Supp.2d 950 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2013) (granting Plaintiff’s request for an award of fees and costs under ERISA Section 502(g)(1)).
Author of numerous columns for the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal regarding current ERISA issues.
Faculty Speaker for CLE sponsored by the Rossdale Group LLP: Mastering Veterans’ Benefits, Social Security, & Disability Law on May 16, 2012.
Author of the following amicus curiae briefs: Brief of Amicus Curiae United Policyholders In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant’s Petition for Rehearing En Banc in the matter of Upadhyay v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., No. 14-15420 (9th Cir.); Brief of Amicus Curiae United Policyholders In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant in the matter of Russell v. Catholic Healthcare Partners Employee Long Term Disability Plan; Unum Life Insurance Company of America, No. 13-4084 (6th Cir.); Brief of Amicus Curiae United Policyholders In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant in the matter of Upadhyay v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., No. 14-15420 (9th Cir.); Brief of United Policyholders, as Amicus Curiae, in Support of Petitioner in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., 2013 WL 3458161 (U.S.) (Appellate Brief); co-author of the brief amicus curiae of the National Employment Lawyers Association in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc., et al., 127 S.Ct. 2971 (2007) (brief available at 2007 WL 2287651).
Volunteer Supervising attorney at the Bay Area Workers’ Rights Clinic and the Workers’ Rights Disability Law Clinic. A spotlight article may be found online here at http://www.las-elc.org/news-clinic-news-2012-02-roberts.html.
Panel attorney and former co-chair of the Board of Directors for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP). A spotlight article may be found online here at http://www.alrp.org/spotlight/michelle-l-roberts-esq.
Moot court judge for the 2010 National Moot Court Competition, a 2012 and 2015 1L Moot Court Class Final Oral Arguments at UC Hastings School of Law, the 2013 National Finals of the ABA’s Tenth Annual Employment Law Trial Advocacy Competition, and a preliminary round of the Berkeley Law – McBaine Moot Court Competition (2014).
Alumni law student mentor for UC Berkeley School of Law.
Member of the Women Lawyers of Alameda County (WLAC), the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), and the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA).

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