BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

MICHELE MEYER-SHIPP is Vice President and Counsel at Merrill Lynch.  She joined the Firm’s Office of General Counsel in August 2005 as a member of the Employment Law Group.  In this role, Ms. Meyer-Shipp provides legal advice and counsel to the Firm on a wide range of employment-related topics including counseling on performance management issues, reductions in force, and business restructuring.  She also provides legal advice on issues relating to federal and state anti-discrimination laws, the FMLA, ADA, ADEA, FLSA, and WARN Act.  Ms. Meyer-Shipp partners with human resources staff on development, implementation, and interpretation of the company’s employment and compliance policies, procedures and programs in accordance with applicable laws.  Finally, she participates in mediations and conducts training on a regular basis. 

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Ms. Meyer-Shipp served as Director of the State’s Division of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action (“EEO/AA”).  She was appointed to this position by Governor McGreevey in April 2004.   In this capacity, she was responsible for developing, implementing and administering equal employment policies and procedures, and affirmative action programs for more than 80,000 state employees.  This included monitoring each state agency to ensure compliance with the various laws, rules and regulations pertaining to EEO/AA.    She was also responsible for overseeing and managing the Equal Employment Opportunity Officers who worked in the various state agencies. 

Prior to her appointment as Director, Ms. Meyer-Shipp served as the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the New Jersey Department of Labor.  Before joining the ranks of public service, Ms. Meyer-Shipp was associated with the law firm of Collier, Jacob & Mills, P.C. where she spent five years representing management in employment and labor matters.  She also served, and continues to serve, as a frequent lecturer on issues such as compliance with the FMLA, ADA, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.  Before joining Collier, Jacob & Mills, she was associated with the law firm of Lowenstein, Sandler, P.C. in Roseland, N.J., and served as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Ms. Meyer-Shipp graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1995.  Thereafter, she served as Law Clerk to the Honorable James H. Coleman, Jr. of the New Jersey Supreme Court.   She is a member of the American Bar Association, New Jersey State Bar Association, Garden State Bar Association, and the Association of Black Women Lawyers.  She also serves as Treasurer for the Minorities in the Profession Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association; Member of the Unlawful Practice Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association; and Member of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.  While Director of the Division of EEO/AA, she served as the Executive Secretary for the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Commission.  Ms. Meyer-Shipp has also served as a Member of the Editorial Board of the New Jersey Lawyer, and a volunteer member of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex Vicinage Child Placement Review Board Program. 

Ms. Meyer-Shipp lives with her husband, Michael A. Shipp, Esq., and their three children in Princeton, New Jersey.

Telephone: (609) 274-6855
Email: michele_meyer-shipp@ml.com

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