2023 speakers

Michelle is a managing director at West U Capital, where she makes debt and equity investments in companies with valuable patent portfolios.

Prior to joining West U Capital, Michelle was Director of Patent Investments at Validity Finance, a commercial litigation funding company. At Validity, Michelle led the patent investment process, including originating new patent opportunities, evaluating and diligencing those opportunities for investment, and managing funded patent cases.

Prior to joining Validity, Michelle spent 10 years as a patent and trade secret litigator at Baker Botts in Houston. She represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the energy and technology sectors in high-stakes IP cases.

Michelle received her JD with honors from The University of Texas School of Law, where she was a member of the Texas Law Review. She also received her MBA from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in systems engineering.