About Michele
Michele Assael-Shafia began her academic journey in California. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Journalism from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1991. She went on to receive her Juris Doctor from the University of La Verne College of Law in 1995. Those early years set a pattern of alternating between practice and public service that has continued through her career.
Her legal career started in the mid-1990s. In 1996 she worked as a deputy district lawyer in the San Bernardino County District Lawyer’s Office. That same year she took on a role at the firm Gilbert, Kelly Crowley & Jennett as a lawyer. Those positions gave her courtroom exposure and grounded her in both prosecutorial work and defense-side practice.
By 2000 her path shifted toward policy and industry. She served as a senior policy advisor for Assael Automotive Group. That role brought her into the intersection of law, business and regulation. Later she moved into senior management. In 2007 she became chief executive officer of Supreme Industries, Inc., overseeing operations and strategic decisions in a corporate setting.
Her career returned to academia and legal education in the late 2010s. In 2018 she served as a visiting associate professor at the University of La Verne College of Law. A year later she took on a leadership role in clinical education as co-director of the San Bernardino County Misdemeanor Appellate Clinic. The clinic places students in real appellate matters, and her role involved supervising work on misdemeanor appeals and guiding students through appellate procedure and brief writing.
Throughout her work she has maintained ties to California’s legal community. Her background spans trial and appellate settings, law firm practice, public-sector prosecution and roles in the private sector. That mix gives her a broad view of how legal, regulatory and business pressures affect clients and institutions.
Her recent activity centers on legal education and appellate practice based in California. She teaches, mentors students and oversees clinical work that handles misdemeanor appeals. Her current practice focuses on appellate representation and law school clinical programs in California.
