Michele Roberts is a Founding Principal of Free and Fair Litigation Group and a member of its Board. Michele is one of nation’s leading trial lawyers, and was the first woman to head a major professional sports union.

Most recently, Michele served as the Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association from 2014 until her retirement in 2022. In that role, she worked on behalf of NBA players to ensure their rights were protected and they were fairly compensated for the value they bring to the sport and their impact on the community.

Prior to joining the NBPA, she was a trial lawyer and Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and, more recently, a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where her practice focused on complex civil and white-collar criminal litigation before state and federal courts and in administrative proceedings. Michele has tried more than 150 cases to jury verdicts, representing clients in a wide variety of areas, including products liability, white-collar defense, racketeering, securities violations, Title VII issues, and premises liability.

Earlier in her career, Michele served for eight years in the office of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where she was named Chief of the Trial Division. Michele is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and is a frequent lecturer and presenter to the bench and bar on a variety of topics related to litigation and trial practice. She taught trial advocacy as an adjunct member of the faculty at Harvard Law School, and as an instructor with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

Michele currently serves on the boards of Cresco Labs, The Marshall Project, The Bronx Defenders, and Wesleyan University. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Berkeley Law School.

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