Introduction
Michelle was admitted to the California Bar in June, 1979. She is a full time mediator following a 30-year litigation career, handling business, insurance, personal injury, and all aspects of employment including ADA employment/access cases, FMLA/CFRA, ERISA, prevailing wage, labor code issues, PAGA, wage and hour class actions, and more. She received an "AV" rating and "Premier" status from Martindale-Hubbell Directory of Lawyers. Michelle is a member of ABOTA, a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM). She is a past President of the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA), past Chair of the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), and past Chair and lawyer representative (two terms) of the Central District Delegation to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. She is a frequent author and speaker on employment, litigation and ADR issues. Michelle has also received many honors including “Top Gun Trial Lawyer of the Year”, Orange County Trial Lawyers, in both Employment and Business Litigation. She has also been recognized as one of The Daily Journal "Top 100 Most Influential Lawyers in California", "Top Female Litigators", “Top Labor and Employment Lawyers”, as well as one of “California’s Top 50 Neutrals”. She has been named as one of California’s “Super Lawyers,” 2004-2019, and was inducted into the Western State University College of Law Hall of Fame.
Practice Areas
Hobbies & Interests
Ms. Reinglass enjoys running, hiking, weightlifting, skiing, theater, reading, traveling and watching movies in her spare time.
Website
http://www.reinglassadr.com
Testimonials
"I wanted to express my gratitude to Michelle. Her persistence and patience was extraordinary,
particularly in the face of difficult personalities. I will be glad to keep her in mind for future cases."
- Attorney, Orange County, CA
"Thanks for another excellent job. You presented the reasons why we should settle in a subtle yet persuasive fashion, yet you kept the other side¹s expectations under control. I look forward to working together again."
- Attorney on an Employment/Discrimination, Wage & Hour Dispute
"You clearly had not only read the position statements, but had absorbed them. It certainly served you well in dealing with our client and having them understand finding the fault lines of a case is often a murky business. I particularly appreciated the patience and empathy shown with the regional executives who attented the mediation with me. "
- Attorney on a Whistleblower Matter
"Michelle was great at making my client at ease which helped open the door to understanding the downside of our case. She was
also tenacious in getting a settlement and when her mediator’s proposal failed she dived into the problem and saved the settlement."
- Attorney on an Employment Wrongful Termination Dispute
"Michelle has a unique understanding of the issues presented and is very easy to work with."
- Attorney on an Employment Misclassification Dispute
"Understood the legal issues completely. Helped our client understand the legal process + risks."
- Attorney on a Civil Rights Dispute
"I appreciate that you are a grinder and a hard worker. That is extremely important to us. Many mediators lose interest if case isn't big enough or challenging enough. I cannot think of anything you could have done better at the time."
- Attorney on an Employment Wrongful Termination Dispute
"This was the second difficult case that we brought to you this year, and again we want to thank you for your continued efforts to get this matter resolved. I know you worked late on a Friday at the mediation, and then managed phone calls the following Friday night to get the matter resolved. We felt like you went above and beyond in that case, working on the matter after the mediation session. With the other case, you went so far beyond the mediation that we will never be able to thank you enough. Knowing the structure of your mediation week, I cannot imagine how you found the time to continue on the case. But we are grateful for your tenacity to stick with us and get this extremely difficult case resolved. "
- Attorney on an Employment Wrongful Termination/Discrimination Dispute
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