Michelle M. Parker

Partner

Phone: 716-856-5012
Email: mparker@anspachlaw.com

Practice Areas

FELA Litigation - representing a Class One railroad
Professional Malpractice - representing attorneys, hospitals, dentists and realtors
Personal Injury Litigation - representing trucking companies, drivers, self-insured and insured
Insurance Coverage - representing carriers and policyholders
Municipal Liability - representing county, city, town and village government
Workplace Safety - representing employers and contractors

Education

J.D. University of Buffalo, 1993; awarded the Order of Barrister for excellence in moot court competitions B.A. Canisius College, 1989; recognized with The Continuing Studies Division's Outstanding Student award

Memberships

Bar Association of Erie County: Chair of the 2007 Bar Foundation’s Annual Campaign; elected to Bar Director (2003-2006); appointed to Judicial Committee (2006); appointed to Chair, Negligence Committee (2000 – 2003), Chair, Young Lawyers Committee (1996 – 1999); New York State Bar Association: Vice-chair of the Committee for Mass Disaster Response (2010 - present); WNY Appointee to NYSBA Special Committee on Discovery and Case Management in Federal Litigation (2010 - present); WNY Appointee to the Committee for Mass Disaster Response (2004 – present); Defense Trial Lawyers of WNY: President (2008), Vice-president (2007), Secretary (2000 – 2007); Director (1999, 2009-present); Evans-Brant Chamber of Commerce: President (2011-2012); Director (2007 – present); American Bar Association: Elected New York State Representative to the Executive Council of the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division (1997 – 1999); Western New York Trial Lawyers Association; Women’s Bar Association; National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel

Experience

Prior to joining the firm, Michelle was a partner in the Buffalo law firm of O’Shea, Reynolds & Cummings . She defends railroads, policyholders and self-insured in lawsuits arising from FELA, personal injury claims, insurance coverage, professional and medical malpractice, municipal liability, workplace safety and dram shop litigation.

Michelle has successfully tried numerous cases in the New York court system. She is experienced in concluding matters via alternative means of dispute resolution, including arbitration panels and mediation. She is also a Town Prosecutor for the town of Evans, where she resides.

She is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the Western District of N.Y. (Federal) and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

She has lectured on numerous litigation topics for CLEs held by the Bar Association of Erie County, the National Business Institute (NBI) and the New York Bar Association. She has been a guest on WNED-AM’s The Law Line several times to discuss legal issues. She taught civil litigation to paralegal students at Hilbert College for five years.

As a Bar Director, she was the liaison to the Bar History project and drafted Chapter 7 – “Into the Modern Era” of the 2005 edition of The History of the Bar Association of Erie County.

Reported Case:

Bluntt v. O'Connor, 291 A.D.2d 106, (4th Dept.), app. den., 98 N.Y.2d 605 (2002.) Parker defended a legal malpractice case against a law guardian. She argued that in the context of a custody dispute, a parent should not have standing to bring a legal malpractice claim against the subject infant's law guardian. The Fourth Department agreed, creating new law which held that a parent lacks standing to bring such a suit, either individually or on behalf of the child. The Fourth Department also created absolute quasi-judicial immunity for a Law Guardian in an action commenced on behalf of the child. Link: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ad4/court/decisions/2002/02-01-02/pdf/1675.pdf