Michelle Guthrie Whitelaw, Staff Litigation Counsel

for Alabama

B.A., Auburn University, 1995 J.D., Georgia State University College of Law, 1998 Joined GuideOne in 2010

Phone: 256-831-2694 Fax: 515-267-5431 Email: mwhitelaw@guideone.law Paralegal: Angela Sharpnack

Michelle Guthrie Whitelaw joined GuideOne in June 2010 as GuideOne’s Litigation Counsel for Alabama and Tennessee. She graduated from Auburn University magna cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Economics in 1995 and Georgia State University College of Law with a Juris Doctorate degree in 1998. While in law school, she was a member of the Moot Court Board, serving as a team member, coach and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy on the Executive Board. She also worked for the State Bar of Georgia as a student member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism.

Michelle is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in Georgia (1998), Pennsylvania (1999), Tennessee (2007) and Alabama (2009). She currently serves as Litigation Counsel for Alabama. Prior to working for GuideOne, she practiced with private law firms in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in civil litigation. She also served as in-house counsel for State Farm Insurance Company. She has 18 years of insurance litigation experience and has tried over 25 jury trials.

She is a member of the Charles Longstreet Weltner Inn of Court and has authored numerous legal articles on issues ranging from The Intra Family Immunity and In Loco Parentis to The History of Imposing Liability on Hospitals for the Actions of Emergency Room Doctors. She served as the sole presenter for a continuing legal education seminar at Jacksonville State University entitled “Issues in Nursing Home Litigation.”

Michelle is a member of Delta Zeta sorority. She is an active member of her church where she serves as a Sunday School teacher and a member of the Personnel Committee. She is also a member of the Junior League of Anniston/Calhoun County, a volunteer organization with a mission to improve the lives of women and children. Michelle is married with three children, and recently completed her second term as President of the PTA at her children’s elementary school.