Lawyers
Michelle A. Hernandez - Shareholder
I practice in the following areas:
Education, Employment and Labor, Healthcare, Insurance, Litigation, Products Liability, Torts/Personal Injury
Practice
Ms. Hernandez practices in the firm's Litigation Department and her practice is concentrated in the areas of nursing home litigation, insurance defense, and general liability defense. Ms. Hernandez serves as Chair of the Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Service Group for the Industry Service Groups. Ms. Hernandez is Board Certified in New Mexico as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Ms. Hernandez has a diverse practice and has represented nursing homes, and individual providers in litigation matters, before professional boards and in criminal matters involving the New Mexico Attorney General as well as other regulatory agencies. She has been selected as an arbitrator in a wrongful death nursing home case, and has been the Court appointed arbitrator on several collection matters. Ms. Hernandez has also practiced in the areas of education, employment, and civil rights. In these areas, Ms. Hernandez' practice includes the representation of contractors, public schools, municipalities, and various other professions and industries.
Prior to joining Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, P.A., after obtaining her J.D. from UCLA, Ms. Hernandez served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Joseph F. Baca, Senior Justice for the New Mexico Supreme Court.
Ms. Hernandez was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has family in Northern New Mexico.
Representative Clients
- ManorCare
- Sun Healthcare
- Albuquerque Public Schools
- Sunrise Senior Living
- Fundamental
- Mountain States Mutual Casualty
Professional Activities
- New Mexico Defense Lawyers Association Board of Directors (2007-present)
- Treasurer (2010-2011)
- Managing Partner Luncheon Coordinator (2009)
- New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry
- Chair of the Legal Reform Committee (2010)
- Member of the Board of Directors and Vice-Chair of the Legal Reform Committee (2009)
- Hispanic National Bar Association (2000-present)
- Deputy Regional Vice-President (2008-present)
- 2009 Annual Convention Steering Committee and CLE Coordinator
- Leadership Albuquerque Alumni Association, President (2008-2009)
- International Association of Defense Counsel (2005-present)
- Diversity Committee Vice-Chair (2010-2011)
- 2011 Conference Planning Committee (Tennis Coordinator)
- New Mexico Emerge Board of Directors (2007)
- New Mexico Bar Association (1997-present)
- Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Leadership Conference (2005-2006)
- Chair (2006-2007)
- Leadership Albuquerque Member (2004-2005)
- University of New Mexico Alumni Association and Board of Directors (2000-2006)
- Awards Committee (2003-present)
- Treasurer (2003-2004)
- New Mexico First Town Hall, Recorder (2002) and Chief Recorder (2003)
- H. Vearle Payne American Inns of Court (2000-2003)
Honors
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Health Law Specialist (2010)
- Fellow for the American Bar Foundation (2010)
- Who's Who in American Law (2007)
- Scholarship Awarded for Pioneering Women in the Law (1995)
Firm Committees
- Marketing Committee (2008-present)
- Healthcare Industry (Group Chair 2007-present)
- Technology Committee (2006-present)
- Paralegal Committee (2002-2003)
- Recruiting Committee (2000-2005)
Education
- University of California at Los Angeles, Juris Doctor, 1997
- University of New Mexico, B.A., Political Science, 1994, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admission
- State of New Mexico (1997)
- Federal District Court (2000)
- United States Court of Appeals (1999)
