100 Most Influential Lawyers in America – the National Law Journal
100 Most Influential Lawyers in America
– the National Law Journal
Michelle R. Hiepler
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Practice Areas:
- Wrongful Death
- Catastrophic Injury
- Train Accidents
- Bus and Party Bus Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Bicycle Accidents
- Premises Liability
- Slip and Fall
- Animal Bites
- Elder Abuse
- Persons with Special Needs Abuse
- Nursing Home Negligence
- Insurance Bad Faith Matters
- Fire and Oil Spill Damages to Real Property
- Retinopathy of Prematurity (infant blindness)
- Limited Medical Malpractice
Biography
Michelle Hiepler is a founding partner of the Law Firm Hiepler & Hiepler. She served as co-counsel in the landmark case Fox v. HealthNet, obtaining a record-setting $89.3 million dollar jury verdict, including $77 million for punitive damages, on behalf of her late sister-in-law. In connection with this record-setting verdict, Michelle was featured on the cover of California Lawyer and USA Today.
Prior to forming Hiepler & Hiepler, Michelle served as Associate General Counsel of Pepperdine University for five years, and as an associate trial attorney in a large civil defense firm in Los Angeles where she represented a prominent German automobile manufacturer in products liability cases.
Michelle is licensed to practice law in California and Colorado. She received her Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law, where she served on the Pepperdine Law Review via top 10% class placement and on the Pepperdine Law Review Editorial Board. She was the recipient of numerous American Jurisprudence awards for academic excellence, and graduated cum laude in 1989. Her publications include California Supreme Court Survey, published in the Pepperdine Law Review. Michelle obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, where she majored in journalism and graduated cum laude.
For 22 years she served as a founding Trustee of Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village where she employed her legal skills in drafting most of the school’s founding documents. Additionally, she served for 15 years on the Board of Regents of Pepperdine University, including serving as founding Chair of the Governance Committee.
Michelle is married to Mark Hiepler, Esq., and they have three children: Sarah Hiepler-Basty, PhD in anthropology and archeology, who is married to Nicolas Basty, PhD in bio-medical engineering; Ryan Hiepler, JD and attorney at law, who is married to Emily Hiepler, a tennis pro and mom; and Paul Hiepler, JD and attorney at law, who is married to Cassidy Hiepler, a realtor at Sotheby’s Realty.