Michele L. Hornish

hornish@learwerts.com

Michele Hornish primarily represents individuals and small businesses in lawsuits filed in various state and federal courts. She focuses on complex personal injury and employment cases – including cases involving groups of employees in collective and class actions. Michele comes to Lear Werts after spending a year as a law clerk for the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Macon, Georgia. She then spent the first ten years of her practice defending large multi-national insurance and reinsurance companies and serving as the Illinois State Treasurer’s assistant general counsel. With that experience, she has a deep understanding of defense strategy and practice that serves her well in the plaintiffs' practice.

Michele firmly believes that every case is a story, and that the success of a case often depends upon how well that story is conveyed. Michele strives to tell each client’s story as if it were her own. Michele is an active volunteer mediator and trainer for the Chicago Center for Conflict Resolution (“CCR”), which utilizes facilitative mediation to resolve community disputes. She helped design CCR’s first governing body, the Volunteer Council, to which she was also elected. Michele is also an avid runner, cyclist and triathlete.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

Recent Hurricane Katrina Developments, January 16, 2007

The Reinsurance Industry in the Eye of the Storm: The Recent Katrina, Rita & Wilma Decisions & What They Might Mean for the Reinsurance Industry, Recent Litigation Developments, London, England; March 26, 2007

Enforcement of International Arbitration Awards: An Overview, Chicago, Illinois; December 2006

Mediation Pros and Cons; Hanover, Germany, March 2006

Use and Refinement of Special Termination Clauses; Contract Wording Amendments to Reinsurance Contracts in Light of TRIA; Hanover, Germany; March 2006

Issues for the Insurance and Reinsurance Industry Raised by Hurricane Katrina Developments: State Farm Settlements Rejected by Judge Senter, January 29, 2007

Series of twelve short articles discussing various aspects of international arbitration, 2006-2007

Excluding the Exclusionary Rule in Driver's License Suspension Hearings, 65 MO. L. REV. 533 (2000)

Just What the Doctor Ordered – Or Was It?: Missouri Pharmacists' Duty of Care in the 21st Century, 65 MO. L. REV. 1075 (2000)