Michael T. Shepherd

Practice Areas: Insurance Defense; Business Litigation, Selected Plaintiff Personal Injury.

Admitted: 1974, California; 1981, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit;
1983, U.S. District Court, Northern and Eastern Districts of California;
1990, U.S. Supreme Court

Law School: Hastings College of Law, University of California, J.D., 1973.

College: University of California at Santa Barbara, B.A., 1968.

Member: Butte County Bar Association; State Bar of California;
Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California;
American Board of Trial Advocates.

Biography: Arbitrator, American Arbitration Association.
Director: Chico Area Recreation Department, 1988-1998;
President, Board of Mediation Center of the North Valley, 1992-1994;
Board of Aero Union Corporation, 1997.

Mr. Shepherd is a graduate of Hastings College of the Law in 1973. From January of 1974 to July of 1981, Mr. Shepherd practiced in Los Angeles, California, first doing insurance defense work, then engaging in entertainment litigation representing MCA, Universal Studios, United Artist Records, and Capitol Records. During that period, Mr. Shepherd also had a general business practice.

Since 1981, when Mr. Shepherd moved his family from Los Angeles to Chico, his practice has consisted primarily of insurance defense, trying cases ranging from automobile to premise liability to product liability, and commercial litigation, together with some general business representation, including general counsel for Aero Union Corporation - the nation's largest air tanker company, and other civil matters, from personal injury work to medical malpractice defense and general contractor work. In addition to defending a myriad of personal injury cases, he has also successfully defended wrongful termination, product liability, and business matters before juries. He has also defended and prosecuted numerous personal injury litigation cases arising out of private aircraft crashes. Mr. Shepherd joined Mr. Maynard C. Craig in 1988. Mr. Craig passed away in November of 1996. Mr. Shepherd has tried over 25 civil jury trials including trials in the United States District Court for the Eastern District (Sacramento), Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County, Butte County, Tehama County, Shasta County, Glenn County, Sutter County, Yuba County and Mendocino County Superior Courts. Mr. Shepherd is a member of the American Board of Trial Attorneys.

From 1988 to 2000, Mr. Shepherd served on the Board of Directors for the Chico Area Park and Recreation District, twice serving as Chair of the Board and also is Past President of the Board of Directors of the Mediation Center For The North Valley, a non-profit corporation involved in alternative dispute resolution. In 1995 Mr. Shepherd was nominated for "Citizen of the Year" by the Chico Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Shepherd served as Secretary and Chairman for Aero Union Corporation Board of Directors from 1996 to 2002.

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