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Home > Michelle Roberts

Michelle Roberts Founder of Roberts Disability Law, P.C.

We know how to get your insurance claim paid. Call today at:
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Since 2015, Michelle has consecutively been named a “Super Lawyer” by Northern California Super Lawyers Magazine. She was also named on the Northern California Super Lawyers List as Top 100 and Top 50 Women Lawyers each year since 2018.

Michelle Roberts

Michelle Roberts: ERISA Litigation Attorney

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Since 2005, Michelle Roberts has been a successful advocate for disabled individuals and employees. Ms. Roberts specializes in claims for benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), specifically claims for disability benefits. Ms. Roberts has helped numerous clients obtain short and long term disability benefits from insurance companies that had wrongfully denied their claims.

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Distinctions

Each year from 2015-2024, Ms. Roberts was named a “Super Lawyer” by Northern California Super Lawyers Magazine (and was previously named a “Rising Star” for 2012-2014). In each year from 2018 to 2024, she was named on the Northern California Super Lawyers Top 100 and Top 50 Women Lawyers list.

In “A Life of Fulfillment,” she was profiled by Northern California Super Lawyers Magazine. She also received the 2015 ALRP Volunteer of the Year award and the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction award. Ms. Roberts is a leader in the local legal community.

Since 2021, she has served on the Board of Directors of Legal Aid at Work, a nonprofit legal services organization that provides advice and representation to low-income employees. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She served as President of the Chapter in 2018, after having held an officer position within the organization each year since 2014. She served a four-year term as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council (2019-2022). She served as Co-Chair of the Lawyer Representatives for 2020. She is also serving a three-year term as Member of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) Judiciary Committee.

To stay abreast of developments in ERISA litigation, she serves on the Board of Senior Editors of the ABA Employee Benefits Law book. She is the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice (TIPS) Vice-Chair to the Employee Benefits General Committee. Ms. Roberts served as a co-chair of the Ethics subcommittee of the ABA’s Section of Labor & Employment Law’s Employee Benefits Committee (EBC) from 2009 through 2014. She served as co-chair of the Welfare Plans—Benefit Claims and Social Media subcommittees from 2014-2015. Additionally, from 2013-2015, Ms. Roberts served as an EBC liaison to the Section’s Diversity in the Legal Profession Standing Committee.

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Publications

Publications
  • Co-author, ABA’s ERISA Survey of the Federal Circuits (2021)
  • Author of article titled, “When Does Insurance for Single-person Business Owners Become an ERISA Plan,” ABA TIPS Employee Benefits Committee (April 2021)
  • Author, “Invisible Illness Limitations in Employer-Provided Disability Policies,” Uninvisible Pod with Lauren Freedman (March 2021)
  • Interview, “Michelle Roberts on ERISA and Disability Insurance,” Uninvisible Pod with Lauren Freedman (August 2019)
  • Author of article titled “ERISA: Highlights of Recent Notable Cases,” published in Plaintiff Magazine (September 2019)
  • Co-author: “Circuit Round-Up of Key Appellate ERISA Decisions from February-September 2019”  ABA Labor & Employment Law Section, Employee Benefits Committee Newsletter, Fall 2019 issue
  • Senior Editor, EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW (Bloomberg BNA), Ch. 14: Issues Unique to Health Care, Disability, and Other Welfare Benefit Plans & Ch. 20: Ethics, Privilege, and Related Concerns Unique to the Practice of Benefits Law (2018 and 2019 Supplements).
  • Author, “ERISA Remedies,” published in the American Association for Justice Newsletter; July 2017.
  • Author, ERISA LITIGATION, Sixth Edition; Ch. 17: Personal Jurisdiction & Ch. 26: Disability Benefit Claims (BNA) (BNA 2016 Supplement).
  • Co-author of article titled, “Anatomy of an ERISA-benefit claim,” published by the Journal of Consumer Attorneys Association for Southern California ADVOCATE; Sept. 2017 Issue
  • Author, ERISA LITIGATION, Sixth Edition; Ch. 17: Personal Jurisdiction & Ch. 26: Disability Benefit Claims (BNA).
  • Author, ERISA LITIGATION, Fifth Edition; Ch. 17: Personal Jurisdiction (BNA 2015 Supplement); Ch. 14: Subject Matter Jurisdiction (BNA 2015 Supplement).
  • Co-author of article titled “Anatomy of a Benefit Claim – Practical Presuit considerations and How to Ensure a Strong Record for Litigation,” published in the summer 2015 edition of the Brief;
  • Author of article titled “How ERISA Can Provide Equitable Monetary Relief in Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims,” published by the ABA TIPS Health and Disability & Life Insurance Law Committee Newsletter, Fall 2014;
  • Contributing Author, EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW, Third Edition; Chapter 14: Liability Issues Unique to Welfare Plans (BNA 2015 Supplement); Chapter 20: Ethics, Privilege, and Related Concerns in the Practice of Benefits Law (BNA 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 Supplement); Chapter 13: Benefit Claims and Individual Rights (BNA, 2006, 2007, and 2008 Supplement);
  • Chapter Editor, EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW, Spring 2013 Supplement;
  • Author of numerous columns for the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal regarding current ERISA issues.
  • Author of numerous columns for the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal regarding current ERISA issues, including most recently, “‘No harm, no foul, no standing’ in breach of duty ERISA claims (June 3, 2020) (commenting on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Thole v. U.S. Bank N.A.) and “While Dorman is a victory for employers, it may also be the death of class litigation as they know it” (Nov. 20, 2019) (commenting on the Ninth Circuit’s decision on an arbitration decision).

Speaking Events

Speaking Events
  • Speaker at the ABA Joint Commission on Employee Benefits (JCEB) 2024 Virtual ERISA Fiduciary Institute on Benefit Claim Strategies (June 5, 2024);
  • Speaker at the TIPS Midwinter Symposium of Employee Benefits, ERISA, Life, Health & Disability Insurance, and Insurance Regulation on ERISA Attorneys’ Fees (February 2024);
  • Speaker at the Joint Commission on Employee Benefits (JCEB) program, ERISA Basics National Institute on two panels regarding Benefit Claims Administrative Procedures & Litigation (October 2023);
  • Speaker at the Joint Commission on Employee Benefits (JCEB) program, “Employee Benefits Law Update: A Year in Review,” on panel entitled “From Long-COVID to Compliance with Regulations: Trends in Health and Welfare Administration and Disability Litigation” (March 2022);
  • Speaker at the 46th Annual TIPS Midwinter Symposium on Insurance and Employee Benefits in Austin, TX.  Topic:  Attorney’s Fees in ERISA Litigation (January 2020);
  • Speaker at 45th Annual TIPS Midwinter Symposium on Insurance and Employee Benefits in Coral Gables, FL. Topic:  ERISA Hot Topics (January 2019);
  • Moderator for the Federal Bar Association’s “Meet the Magistrate Judges” program (Nov. 2018);
  • Speaker at CLE provided by California Employment Lawyers Association titled “What Every Employment Lawyer Should Know About Employee Benefits” (September 2018);
  • Speaker at the ERISA Benefits Litigation: How to Prosecute and Defend an Employee Benefits Lawsuit Governed by ERISA CLE hosted by the Litigation and Tax Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco (March 2017);
  • Speaker at the 14th National Forum on ERISA Litigation. Topic: Ethics and The Fiduciary Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege (March 2017);
  • Speaker at the 20th National Advanced Forum on Litigating Disability Insurance Claims. Topic: The Evolving State of New Remedies & Equitable Relief Under ERISA § 502(a)(3) (Feb. 2017);
  • Speaker at the 19th National Advanced Forum on Litigating Disability Insurance Claims. Topic: The Evolving State of New Remedies & Equitable Relief Under ERISA § 502(a)(3) (Sep. 2016);
  • Speaker at the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) Webinar “The Basics of Benefit Claims” (Sep. 2016);
  • Speaker at the 2016 Joint Committee on Employee Benefits ERISA Litigation National Institute conference. Topics: Discovery in ERISA Litigation—FRCP 26-34, ESI, and FOIA Requests& A Practical Guide to Ethics in ERISA Litigation;
  • Speaker at 2016 Midwinter Meeting of the Section of Labor & Employment Law Employee Benefits Committee, sponsored by ABA. Topic: Interaction ERISA 502(a)(3) and 502(a)(1)(B) claims;
  • Speaker at the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) Webinar “Expert’s Guide to Research” (Nov. 2015);
  • Speaker at the American Association for Justice (AAJ) 2015 Annual Convention in Montreal, Canada. Social Security Section/ERISA, Health and Disability Insurance Litigation Group. Topic: Wide World of Post-Amara ERISA Remedies;
  • Speaker at the 2015 Midwinter Meeting of the Section of Labor & Employment Law Employee Benefits Committee (EBC), sponsored by the ABA on Benefit and Fiduciary Claims; The Impact of Procedural Issues;
  • Speaker at the 2014 Federal Bar Association (FBA) CLE Webinar on Disability Claims Under ERISA;
  • Speaker at the 2014 National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) Annual Convention on ERISA Remedies;
  • Faculty Speaker at the 2013 Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Annual Las Vegas Convention on ERISA Liens;
  • Ethics panelist at Midwinter Meetings of the EBC (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013);
  • *E*verything *R*eally *I*sn’t *S*o *A*wful – an Overview of the Current Landscape of ERISA Preemption & Remedies; Consumer Attorneys of California (“CAOC”) Convention 2012; and
  • Faculty Speaker for CLE sponsored by the Rossdale Group LLP: Mastering Veterans’ Benefits, Social Security, & Disability Law on May 16, 2012.

Notable Cases

Notable Cases

Community Involvement

Community Involvement
  • Author of the following amicus curiae briefs:  Brief of Amicus Curiae United Policyholders In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant’s Petition for Rehearing En Banc in the matter of Upadhyay v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., No. 14-15420 (9th Cir.); Brief of Amicus Curiae United Policyholders In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant in the matter of Russell v. Catholic Healthcare Partners Employee Long Term Disability Plan; Unum Life Insurance Company of America, No. 13-4084 (6th Cir.); Brief of Amicus Curiae United Policyholders In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant in the matter of Upadhyay v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., No. 14-15420 (9th Cir.); Brief of United Policyholders, as Amicus Curiae, in Support of Petitioner in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., 2013 WL 3458161 (U.S.) (Appellate Brief); co-author of the brief amicus curiae of the National Employment Lawyers Association in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc., et al., 127 S.Ct. 2971 (2007) (brief available at 2007 WL 2287651).
  • Volunteer Supervising attorney at the Bay Area Workers’ Rights Clinic and the Workers’ Rights Disability Law Clinic.
  • Panel attorney and former co-chair of the Board of Directors for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP). A spotlight article may be found online here.
  • Moot court judge for American Moot Court Association (AMCA) Golden Gate Regional (2023); UC Berkeley’s 2014 Appellate Competition, the 2013 National Finals of the ABA’s Tenth Annual Employment Law Trial Advocacy Competition, 1L Moot Court Class Final Oral Arguments at UC College of the Law (multiple years), and a Moot court judge for the 2010 National Moot Court Competition.
  • Alumni law student mentor for UC Berkeley School of Law.
  • Member of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), and the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA).

Education

Education
  • Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, California
    J.D. – 2005
  • University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California
    B.A. – 2002
    Major: Economics/Law & Society
    Major: Political Science
    Summa cum laude (top 2%)

Jurisdictions Admitted To Practice

Jurisdictions Admitted To Practice
  • California, 2005
  • Illinois, 2017
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, 2018
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 2014
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2005
  • U.S. District Court Central District of California, 2006
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 2006
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 2006
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of California, 2006
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2013
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2016

Professional & Bar Association Memberships

Professional & Bar Association Memberships
  • Legal Aid at Work, Board of Directors (2021-Present)
  • ProVisors, the premier national networking organization exclusively for Trusted Advisors
  • BASF Judiciary Committee (2021-2023 term)
  • Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference (2019-2021 term)
  • Lawyer Representative Co-Chair (2019-2020)
  • Immediate Past President for the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2019)
  • President for the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2017-2018)
  • President-Elect for the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2017)
  • Treasurer/Secretary for the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2016)
  • Vice President of the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2014 and 2015)
  • Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
  • American Bar Association’s Section of Labor & Employment Law’s Employee Benefits Committee (EBC)
  • California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA)
  • National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
  • National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA)
  • Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC)

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