With many years of experience providing legal counsel in corporate law and trusts and estates, Michelle LaLonde helps individuals and businesses handle the wide array of issues involved in company operations and personal and family wealth transfer. Michelle also assists fiduciaries and beneficiaries with the administration and probate of estates. As a trusted advisor with a wide and deep legal knowledge base, she acts in a general counsel capacity for many organizations.

On the business and corporate side of her practice, Michelle advises clients on all levels of law that touches their business operations, including, creating new ventures, divisions, and entities, selling or merging businesses and assisting organizations in capital raises and securities’ offerings. She also prepares and revises a wide variety of agreements, such as LLC operating, shareholders, employment, independent contractor, vendor, supply and licensing agreements. In addition, she advises clients on their intellectual property issues through licensing, royalty and SAAS agreements.

Michelle works with business leaders and their non-profit corporations, helping them comply with laws and regulations particular to those organizations. Additionally, Michelle counsels clients in implementation of employee incentive arrangements and helps women- and minority-owned businesses obtain and maintain their certifications.

Michelle often represents Georgia-based closely held and family businesses that need guidance on issues that often fall in the intersection of business and estate planning. This counsel is particularly important for business succession planning when multiple generations participate in their business’ operations, ownership and leadership.

Advising clients in all aspects of their estate planning, Michelle handles everything from basic will drafting with financial powers of attorney and advanced health care directives to complex trust creation and wealth transfer techniques. She also provides counsel on sales to defective grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, insurance trust planning, special needs trusts, charitable trusts and foundations, and other advance planning mechanisms to assist clients in satisfying their family goals, minimizing or avoiding estate and gift taxes, and distributing their hard-earned assets in a manner that they feel is best for their family and friends.

Michelle enjoys taking on intellectual and legal challenges and creating strategic solutions for her clients. She also finds it gratifying to connect with clients and forge strong relationships to better enable her to help clients reach their goals. She draws on her communication skills, candid approach, and ability to navigate the complex dynamics of businesses as well as families to yield smoother resolutions and transactions. Michelle is committed to helping bring clients peace of mind in clarifying their business and family goals and assisting them resolve issues and conflicts to set them up well for the future.

Michelle leads the firm’s corporate and transactional practice group and also provides guidance to other practice group leaders.

After Hours

Michelle maintains a large vegetable and perennial flower garden. She also likes to bake—especially sourdough bread—and make greetings cards from scratch.

Related Services

Michelle finds it gratifying to connect with clients and forge strong relationships to better enable her to help clients reach their goals.

Education

  • University of Georgia School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1987)
    • University of Georgia Law Review
    • Managing Board and Editorial Board
    • Best Brief Award
  • Vanderbilt University (1983)
    • Mortar Board
    • Omicron Delta Kappa, President

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • Georgia, 1987