Michelle Preiksaitis

Michelle K. Preiksaitis, JD, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is a licensed, active Illinois attorney, as well as a Senior Professional Human Resource (SPHR) designee from the Human Resource Certfication Institute, a SHRM-SCP, and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Society for Human Resource Managers. She earned her PhD in Management, with a concentration in Human Resource Management from Walden University, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois. She also has a Master of Arts degree in Technical Communication, earned from Texas Tech University. 

Michelle practiced trial and appellate litigation in the area of business, employment and trust administration law (as well as general practice litigation) for 15 years. For five years, she was President/Chief Legal Officer of a legal research and law firm, Preiklawrite P.C.  Her client base ranged from sole proprietors, to mom & pop companies, and included Fortune 100 companies. She has won appeals that were heard before the 7th Circuit court of appeals, the 4th District Appellate Court of Illinois, and the 5th District Appellate Court of Illinois. One appeal created new law in Illinois. For two years, she was a Director and then Associate Dean for a large online business college.

She now works as an online university professor for multiple public and private universities, specializing in business and employment law, Human Resource Management, ethics and sustainability, and technical and business communication.  Along with teaching, she regularly develops and writes courses for the legal and human resource fields. 

She has won multiple leadership awards including "Live to Lead," "Innovator award," "Inspirational Leadership Award" and "Faculty Manager of the Year for Cambridge's Who's Who." She is regularly hired as a subject matter expert, and is currently providing such expertise to Walden University, San Diego City College, and Ocean County College. She is a sitting member of the SHRM Ethics and Sustainability Expert Panel, and she presented at the 2015 ATD International Conference and Exposition regarding training and developing high potential employees.

She lives on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and spends her free time on the ocean with her husband, Capt. Ray, on their power-boat Mitch Dr. She is a rescue SCUBA diver, and a member of the Carribean Oceanic Restoration Education foundation.