Mr. Shipley's practice is limited to civil and criminal litigation in the Federal and Missouri trial and appellate Courts. He handles all levels of criminal cases, ranging from minor traffic matters to federal death penalty litigation, and including driving while intoxicated (DWI/DUI), drug crimes, sex offenses, white collar crimes, assault and theft offenses. Civil litigation includes serious personal injury and wrongful death suits, truck and automobile collision cases, medical malpractice, civil rights and police brutality.

The University of Missouri-Columbia awarded Mr. Shipley a Bachelor of Arts, with Honors in Economics, degree in 1982, and a Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, degree in 1985. He was a member of the Missouri Law Review and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and The Order of the Coif.

Mr. Shipley is admitted to practice in the Missouri Bar, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.

Following graduation from law school, Mr. Shipley served as a law clerk to the Honorable Howard F. Sachs, U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri. After practicing with two smaller firms in Clay County for over fifteen years, he founded the Law Offices of Michael S. Shipley, LLC, in 2003. He has been an officer and Director of the Clay County Bar Association for the last several years, and is a member of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He has published articles in the Missouri Law Review and in Barrister magazine.