Michelle R. Gough

Prior to joining HRM, Michelle’s career included work as a general practice attorney in a private firm handling family law, small business, and education law matters. She further acquired a decade of executive-level experience serving as the General Counsel to multiple Indiana state education agencies followed by her responsibilities as Chief Legal Officer for a complex, multi-national nonprofit. Michelle is also an entrepreneur, as she co-founded an assessment startup, which provided her a new perspective of the legal needs for small businesses and startups.

Michelle has been an invited speaker at dozens of state and national conferences on topics ranging from cybersecurity best practices to civil rights. She has a number of peer-reviewed publications, and her work has been cited in some of the nation’s top journals, including the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, the New York University Journal of Law & Social Change, the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, and Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. In everything she does, Michelle combines compassion, persistence, and diligence with pragmaticism. Michelle’s broad experience allows her to contribute across a variety of practice areas at HRM, including advising clients on business and corporate matters, education law, and family law.

Education

Michelle earned an LL.M. from Georgetown University in International Business and Economic Law, a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Indiana University Bloomington, and a J.D from Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law, from which she graduated Order of the Barristers.

She earned her B.A. in English Literature from DePauw University.

Areas of Practice

Tax-exempt and for-profit businesses

In her diversified practice, she counsels large and small companies, including for-profit and nonprofit entities, in all facets of their business and legal needs. Serving as an outside general counsel, she advises on compliance and ethics, data security and privacy, intellectual property, and related transactional matters, with special emphasis on software and technology licensing, software development, collection and use of data, and machine learning product development and licensing.

In this capacity, Michelle is passionate about providing each business client the attentive, white-glove treatment experience, whether it is updating service contracts, reviewing boilerplate NDAs and MSAs sent by a provider or vendor, or providing strategic legal support through a business event or shift that may have complex legal considerations and needs.

Michelle thrives on helping companies avoid unnecessary risk to their business from boilerplate agreements which may not meet their needs by creating unrealized risks and business continuity challenges.

Family Law and School Law

Michelle has extensive experience in all aspects of education law, which include counseling parents, guardians, and adult students in all facets of school law, covering public, private, and higher education. Rounding out Michelle’s experience, she has a solid background in family law, including divorce and separation matters, custody actions, grandparents’ rights, spousal maintenance establishment and modification, child support establishment and modification, parenting time, and termination of parental rights proceedings.

Business and Corporate

• Providers of SaaS Platforms and those who contract for SaaS services
• Startups, Small Business, and nonprofit services
• Corporate Compliance and Ethics
• Service Agreements
• Employment Contracts
• Noncompetes – contract language, enforcing, and navigating

Family Law

• Divorce and Legal Separation
• Child Custody, Support, and Visitation
• Contempt
• Modifications
• Grandparent Visitation
• Third-Party Custody
• Relocation
• Guardianship
• Prenuptial Agreements
• Protective Orders

Education Law

• Discrimination based on race, gender, or religion
• Special education
• Student harassment, intimidation, and bullying
• Student discipline
• Athletic eligibility
• Student and staff First Amendment rights
• Board policies
• Open Public Meetings Act and Open Public Records Act issues
• Employee performance and discipline issues

*Michelle is licensed in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and her Indiana license is pending.

Michelle is a dedicated mother of two, baker, book lover, and as an avid runner, she is a multiple-time qualifier for the Boston Marathon. She lives on a mini-farm with her life partner, Dr. John Fry, daughter, and son who both attend St. Richard’s Episcopal School, and many animal family members, including her beloved flock of hens who lay beautiful eggs of all colors.