Nearly 15 years of experience litigating on behalf of global and national companies facing significant and complicated legal claims led Michelle to establish Tupper Butler Law PLLC. She now focuses on families attempting to navigate or prepare for their inevitable mortality or a sudden medical crisis. In early 2017, Michelle’s advocacy work became personal when she assumed responsibility for her father’s care. He suffered a fall that caused a spinal cord injury and left him a quadriplegic — without any plan in place. With help from family and the newly discovered power of planning, Michelle’s father was able to thrive at home, maintaining a quality of life despite his disability and medical needs. Though he passed in 2020, Michelle ensured her father had a plan that made his wishes known so that when he died, she and her brother could be true to his love as a family, with confidence they were following their beloved father’s wishes. Now, Michelle offers her clients the benefits of her extensive legal expertise and personal knowledge of the drastic difference the power of planning can bring to life’s most difficult but unavoidable moments.

Michelle grew up in Louisville with her brother, together raised by their father after their mother passed away from cancer in 1993. A Ballard High School graduate, she next earned her Bachelor’s degree at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1996, before moving to New York City and basking in the adventure of city life. After six years serving as editor in nonfiction, Michelle completed law school back in D.C. at Georgetown University Law Center in 2005 and began her career litigating in private practice. After nearly ten years in private practice and a federal clerkship with the United States District Court in Washington, D.C., Michelle moved with her family back home to Louisville in 2013 and continued working in private practice.