PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Michele Nelson Bass has been involved with recreational scuba litigation for nearly twenty years.  She left the well-known maritime law firm of Keesal, Young and Logan in 1990 and assisted Mr. Lesser in expanding the firm with a focus on the defense of recreational scuba diving claims.  Since that time she has been involved in all aspects of litigation (from discovery through appellate brief writing) involving wrongful death, product liability, admiralty/maritime, professional negligence and employment related claims.  She is a very experienced trial lawyer and has successfully tried jury cases in State and Federal Courts all over the country.  She received the National Law Journal Top Defense Verdict of the Year in 2004 for the defense of a multi-million dollar scuba diving product liability case.  She also handles ski accident cases and won a unanimous decision from the Colorado Supreme Court in Cooper v. Aspen Ski Company, et al. in 2002.  Her practice now consists of both defense and plaintiff’s cases.

Ms. Bass resides in Aspen, Colorado with her husband and two little boys.  She is an expert skier and road bike rider as well as an avid scuba diver.  She was certified as a NAUI diver by Dr. Glen H. Egstrom, a well known SCUBA industry expert, at  UCLA in 1984. She has been diving all over the world including Truk Lagoon, Palau, Yap, Fiji, Great Barrier Reef, Cozumel, Caribbean, Hawaii, Belize, and the Galapagos.

MEMBERSHIPS & CERTIFICATION

•  Admitted to California Bar and California Federal Courts, 1989
•  Admitted to United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1990
•  Admitted to Hawaii Bar and Hawaii Federal Courts, 1992
•  Admitted to Colorado Bar, 1996
•  Admitted pro hac vice in multiple state and federal jurisdictions including: Alabama, Tennessee, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
•  Appointed Vice-Chair of Sports Law Committee for Litigation and Torts Law Section of the American Bar Association, 1993-1994 term
•  Certified NAUI scuba diver, 1984 UCLA
•  Certified TDI Nitrox Diver, 2008
•  Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, UCLA 1981-1985
•  Telluride Ski School Instructor, 1995-1996

EDUCATION

• McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, J.D. 1989
• University of California at Los Angeles, B.A. Psychology and Business Administration, 1985
• Cambridge University England, Trinity College, Public Policy Course, Summer 1984
• United States Department of Justice Washington D.C. Intern Appellate Section of the Antitrust Division,1986
• United States Federal District Court, Eastern District of California: Summer Intern for the Honorable Raul Ramirez, 1987
• Law Review: Primary Editor, The Transnational Lawyer, 1987-1988
• American Jurisprudence Award, International Business Transactions, 1988
• Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, UCLA 1981-1985
• Telluride Ski School Instructor, 1995-1996