William R. Michelman is a sole practitioner in the City of Lakewood, a suburb to the south of Tacoma, Washington. With the assistance of two very capable legal assistants, Bonnie M. Bach and Amy Watters, he is engaged in the general practice of law emphasizing personal injury cases and criminal defense. Mr. Michelman's personal injury practice is general and broad in scope. It accounts for about half of his caseload, and includes automobile collisions, slip and falls, and all other manner of injury.  He also has an active criminal defense practice, in both state and federal courts. The federal criminal cases involve everything from complex multi-count, multi-defendant indictments to DUIs and shoplifting cases from Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base.  The state cases primarily involve DUIs, drug offenses, sex offenses, and other felonies.  Mr. Michelman is experienced in litigating appeals to both the state and federal appellate courts.  He will represent clients outside the Tacoma – Pierce County, Washington, area.

Mr. Michelman grew up on Long Island, New York. He did his undergraduate work at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Psychology.  He attended the University of Puget Sound School of Law from 1973 to 1976. He was the Lead Articles Editor of the UPS Law Review and he graduated 2nd in his class. Mr. Michelman is a former associate of the Tacoma law firm of Estes, Damis & Felnagle, and a former partner of Walter & Michelman in Houston, Texas.  Mr. Michelman has worked as a sole practitioner at his current address in Lakewood, Washington, since January of 1980. 

Mr. Michelman has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at UPS Law School, where he taught federal taxation of trusts and estates. He has also been an instructor at Pierce College, where he taught a variety of law related courses, such as Business Law and Law and Society. Mr. Michelman was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Legal Assisting Program at Pierce College for many years.  He frequently serves as an arbitrator in Pierce County. He has served as a judge pro tempore in municipal, district, and superior courts.  Mr. Michelman is the Tacoma representative to the Criminal Justice Act Committee for the Western District of Washington, which operates under the auspices of the Office of the Federal Defender for the Western District of Washington.  The Committee assists the United States District Court with the administration of justice within the Western District of Washington.

Mr. Michelman is a member of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA), and was a charter member of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL). He was admitted to practice law in the State of Washington in 1976. He is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Michelman has over 60 cousins who are attorneys and judges (including at least one federal district judge) practicing in virtually every large city in the United States. His cousin, Frank I. Michelman, is a noted Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.