Michelle Noreen Schneiderheinze

Michelle focuses her practice at VanDerGinst Law on all areas of personal injury law, including complex and catastrophic injury cases.

Michelle is a seasoned litigator with almost 20 years of legal experience including serving as class co-counsel in NB v. Norwood, a federal class-action lawsuit seeking treatment for thousands of disabled children living in Illinois.

Michelle is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) and worked as a chemist for several years before attending law school.

In law school, Michelle received the CALI Award for achieving the highest grade in her first-year property class. She was an associate editor for The University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy and President of the Myra Bradwell Association of Woman Law Students. She also participated in moot court competitions.

After graduating from law school, Michelle spent several years as a law clerk for the Honorable Joe B. McDade, United States District Court Judge, Central District of Illinois. During her tenure as a law clerk, she assisted court-appointed monitors in Johnson v. Board of Education Champaign Community Unit School District #4, Case No. 00-CV-1349 (C.D. Ill.), a school desegregation case.

Michelle also worked as a staff attorney for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals drafting memorandum and opinions for federal appellate court judges in a variety of civil and criminal law matters.