Bringing nearly two decades of commercial and business litigation experience, Michele O’Malley joined the firm's Kansas City office in 2016. Michele’s legal practice focuses primarily on real estate litigation matters, including receivership, commercial and residential foreclosures, workouts, title defect resolution, landlord-tenant matters, utility easement enforcement, condemnation actions and real estate sales contract disputes.
Michele's proficiency in receivership law is put into action for lending institutions seeking receivers to manage secured assets. She has also served as defense counsel in lender liability actions.
As a former licensed real estate agent, Michele’s experience navigating the complexities of real estate transactions allows her to help clients resolve difficult situations and guard against future litigation. She provides property owners and insurers with the tools to cure errors in title and loan documents to assure smooth REO closings.
Michele applies her litigation experience to work in a cost efficient manner for all clients. She has represented a wide range of clients throughout Missouri and Kansas.
Michele is a co-founder of Project Linus - Topeka Chapter and dedicates her time to meet the organization’s mission: to make, collect and distribute handmade blankets to Northeast Kansas hospitals and other child service organizations to provide comfort for children in distress. Through Michele’s efforts with the Project Linus team, the organization has collected nearly 8,000 blankets. Michele is involved with the Shawnee Mission School District through her children’s school. She is the Past-President and a board member of the PTA and serves on Site Council.
When spending time with her husband and family, Michele enjoys planning trips to visit National Parks.
Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City
Associated General Contractors of Missouri
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Johnson County Bar Association
Kansas Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
Kansas Supreme Court’s Office of Judicial Administration, Ad Hoc Court Records Committee
Missouri Bar Association
Oklahoma Bar Association
J.D., Washburn University School of Law, with honors
• During her legal studies, she served as the Comment Editor for the Washburn Law Journal and was awarded the American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence.
B.A. in Secondary Education and Biology, Kansas State University
Kansas
Missouri
Oklahoma
United States District Court for the District of Kansas
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Michele is also admitted to practice before the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Court.
Project Linus - Topeka Chapter, Co-Founder
Shawnee Mission School District, Site Council Member
Shawnee Mission School District, Past PTA President
Presented on the Missouri Commercial Receivership Act, Kansas City Bankruptcy Bar Association (2019)
Taught course on the Missouri Commercial Receivership Act in both Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri Bar Association Real Estate Section (2019)
Co-presenter, “Trustee Liability and Ways to Protect from Breach of Fiduciary Claims,” The Table with Sandberg Phoenix (2018)
“I’m a contractor. Why should I care about the Missouri Commercial Receivership Act?”, Sandberg Phoenix Construction Litigation Blog (2017)
Update author for the Missouri Practice Series, Methods of Practice Transaction Guide, Chapter 9, “Foreclosure of Deeds of Trust," 2007-2016; prepare and conduct Continuing Education presentations to fellow attorneys and informative presentations to clients.
Publication in Washburn Law Journal, Volume 40, “The Misapplication of Comparative Negligence: An Argument for the Use of Joint and Several Liability in Gun Control, [Wood v. Groh, 7 P.3d 1136 (Jan. 2000).]”