Michelle is a South African advocate holding the rank of Senior Counsel. She is a member of both the Johannesburg Bar and the New York Bar, specializing in competition law, regulatory enforcement, and public law litigation at Group 621. Her public track record includes acting as legal counsel for the South African Human Rights Commission and government officials during the Zondo Commission of Inquiry.
In her academic and policy roles, she is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Faculty of Law and served as the Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Panel for amendments to South Africa’s Competition Act. She holds a BA and LLB from UCT and an LLM from the New York University School of Law, where she practiced federal and state court litigation for nearly a decade. She is the co-author of Precedent and Possibility (2008) and Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa (2019).