BLANKROME Partner – Sports, Family and Business Law
Michelle Gervais is a highly accomplished attorney who serves as the Co-Chair of the Sports Industry Group for an AM Law 100 Law Firm. With her extensive experience in complex disputes involving business and family law, she is sought after by high-profile athletes and individuals as well as businesses for her legal expertise. Michelle has a reputation as a “fixer” and “legal mom” due to her compassionate, yet effective approach in resolving disputes.
Michelle’s impressive legal career has been recognized by various publications and organizations, including being listed for the last four years in Florida Trend Magazine’s Top 500 Most Influential Business Executives in the State of Florida; 2023 Best Lawyers in America and 2022 Super Lawyers. She was also named in 2020 Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Family Lawyers in America; Top 100 Women Leaders in Tampa by Women We Admire’s Outstanding Mothers, received Hillsborough Pro Bono Recognition in 2016, and named a 2020 Florida Bar Foundation “Pro Bono Hero” among others.
Michelle is also highly active in various legal and sports-related organizations. She is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association and has been an Outreach Captain since 2017. She is also a member of Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Tampa Bay’s Executive Board and serves as a Positive Coaching Alliance mentor and on their scholarship committee. Michelle also served as a member of the NCAA Women’s Final Four Tampa Bay Local Advisory Committee in 2018-2019, wherein she will serve again in 2025.
Aside from her professional and legal involvements, Michelle is also highly involved in several charitable and civic activities. She is a member of Tampa General Hospital’s Patient Family Advisory Council and supports various charitable organizations, including St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Heros Ball and co-founded and served as co-chair for AdventHealth Tampa Foundation’s Fashion for Hope in 2017 and 2019.
Michelle has also been featured in numerous media outlets, where she shared her insights on various legal and sports-related topics like the Sports Business Journal’s “Top 5 Pandemic Takeaways from an Athlete’s ‘Ray Donovan”, presented “Steps to Becoming Wise and Winning” to the Professional Football Players Mothers Association, and authored, “My Winning Playbook: Fading into the Fix,” for the NFL THREAD’s The Playbook.
She has been interviewed by USA Today, The Legal Examiner and The Tampa Bay Business Journal, as well as on The Better Half podcast, co-moderated Champions of Social Justice: Professional Sports Leaders on Anti-Racism and Allyship and moderated “Own Your Own Power,” a sports panel, as well as served on various sports panels. Michelle also lectures for the Miami-Dade County Bar on drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and to the ABA Young Lawyer’s Division on representing professional athletes.
Michelle is widely respected in the legal and sports communities for her legal expertise, compassion, and dedication to her clients. Her many accolades and recognitions reflect her commitment to her profession, and her involvement in various charitable and civic activities demonstrates her passion for making a positive impact on the world.
100 S. Ashley Drive Suite 600, Tampa, FL 33602 | P: 813-255-2323 | www.BlankRome.com
