Michelle Mellon-Werch

Michelle advises pensions, benefits and investment plans on fiduciary duties, plan governance, administration and compliance. She has counseled government entities and other organizations on retirement plans and trust funds for 18 years. She has extensive experience analyzing legislative proposals and assisting systems with compliance with applicable Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations. Michelle’s experience includes more than 20 years of contract drafting, review and negotiations including technology and intellectual property concerns.

Before joining Nossaman, Michelle served as Assistant General Counsel for 14 years and Director of Communications for two years for the Texas Municipal Retirement System. As Assistant General Counsel, Michelle advised management on compliance issues, filing regulatory filings with the IRS, drafting regulations, policies and procedures and working with auditors and other outside consultants. At TMRS, she launched a data privacy program, directed the development of privacy policies and notices, as well as a data breach response plan. She also managed open records and open meetings compliance and implemented and managed the recovery of overpayments. As Director of Communications, Michelle implemented the first-ever mobile application for a Texas public pension system, rebranded the system, including the website, planned and implemented the TMRS annual conference and TMRS’ presence at affiliated conferences.

Michelle frequently presents to peers at the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys’ Legal Education Conference and has presented at the Center for American and International Law Institute for Law and Technology Conference, the Texas Municipal Retirement System Annual Conference and the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers Annual Conference.

Community & Professional

Member, National Association of Pension Plan Attorneys, Benefits and Data Privacy Sections

Former President/Current Member, Texas Association of Pension Plan Attorneys

International Association of Privacy Professionals, Privacy Bar and Women Leading Privacy Sections, Member

Texas Bar College (2015-Present), Member

Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood (2017-Present), President

State Bar of Texas, Computer and Technology Section (2019-2022), Council Member

Temple Beth Shalom (2012-2017), Board of Directors

Honors & Recognitions

Certificate of Achievement, Public Plan Policy Employee Pensions, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans