Michael L. Russell graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from the University of Tennessee. He received his law degree from the University of Memphis, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was a Humphreys Law Fellow. Mr. Russell is also an alumnus of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) Trial Skills Program at the University of North Carolina.

Mr. Russell is currently the managing partner at Gilbert Russell McWherter PLC.  His practice is devoted to employee rights law, with an emphasis on wage and hour litigation.  Mr. Russell has served as counsel in FLSA collective actions in Tennessee, Illinois, Arkansas, and New York.  Mr. Russell recently obtained a class-wide settlement on behalf of over one thousand current and former assistant managers of a major retailer, who were owed unpaid overtime. 

He has served on the adjunct faculty at Lambuth University and the University of Tennessee at Martin. He has published articles in the American Journal of Trial Advocacy, the University of Memphis Law Review, the Ohio Northern University Law Review, the Seton Hall Constitutional Law Journal, and Employee Rights Quarterly. Mr. Russell’s articles have been cited by courts, scholars, and in testimony before the United States Congress. 

Mr. Russell has served on the boards of numerous civic and non-profit organizations, including the University of Tennessee Alumni Association, the National Conference of Law Reviews, the Jackson-Madison County Bar Association, and the TBA Leadership Law Alumni Association. He is an active member of the ABA Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee.   He was listed in the 2009 edition of Mid South Super Lawyers as a Rising Star, an honor given to the top attorneys in the Mid South who are 40 years old or younger.

In his spare time, Mr. Russell enjoys running, reading, travel, and spending time with his family at their cabin near Pickwick Lake.  He recently completed his second half marathon. Mr. Russell is married to the former Heather Barham.  The Russells are members of Fellowship Bible Church.  They have two sons, Preston and Carlisle.