Michelle L. Villarreal is a Partner in the Irvine office. She represents cities and special districts in a wide range of public law matters, focusing on civil litigation, as well as consulting with clients on pre-litigation matters. Ms. Villarreal is a seasoned litigator with substantial experience in all phases of trial through appeal. Her litigation, administrative hearing and appellate practices span the areas of risk management and tort, labor and employment, as well as land use and zoning. She provides strategic legal counseling throughout the litigation process, including the claims stage, discovery, dispositive motions, depositions, mediations, arbitrations, trials, and appeals. Ms. Villarreal works closely with City Attorneys to clearly understand their clients’ goals and develop cost-efficient and effective strategies customized to the needs of each case. Prior to joining Aleshire & Wynder in 2020, Ms. Villarreal worked for an insurance defense firm, handling catastrophic injury and high exposure cases. She incorporates her insurance defense background into her current role as Head of Aleshire & Wynder’s Risk Management practice group.