Michelle C. Ferrara

Michelle C. Ferrara is Senior Counsel in the Firm’s San Diego office and is a member of the Firm's Insurance and Litigation Practice Groups. Her practice is focused on advising clients regarding coverage-related issues, as well as dealing with complex international business litigation. Ms. Ferrara has experience in local and international trial and appellate proceedings as well as in cross-border arbitrations.

Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Ferrara worked with Galindo, Arias & Lopez (GALA), a full-service law firm in the Republic of Panama with a 50-year tradition of representing high-profile clients with business interests in Panama and abroad. Ms. Ferrara successfully represented some of GALA's most important clients in disputes stemming from construction of large-scale government projects in Panama filed before the ICC, ICSID and Panama's Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CeCAP). Ms. Ferrara specialized in advising clients in highly complex disputes that frequently involved matters of first impression in Panama. She also managed GALA's maritime department.

Ms. Ferrara was previously an associate with the international law firm Locke Lord LLP where she was a member of the firm's Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group, appearing before state and federal courts throughout California. Ms. Ferrara focused her practice on insurance-related matters routinely representing syndicates at Lloyd’s of London as coverage or defense counsel in relation to first and third-party claims for a wide variety of personal injury and property losses throughout the United States and Latin America, including bad faith claims.

Ms. Ferrara began her legal practice as an Assistant District Attorney in New Orleans where she gained considerable litigation experience prosecuting felonies and misdemeanors.

Ms. Ferrara received a B.A. in History from Arizona State University. She earned both her law degree and a Maritime Law Certificate from Tulane University School of Law.

Admissions & Associations

California State Bar

Louisiana State Bar (inactive)

Member of the Hispanic National Bar Association