Faculty Profile for Dr. Michelle L Evans

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Dr. Michelle Evans is an Associate Professor with the Department of Political Science at Texas State University. She teaches primarily in the M.A. in Legal Studies graduate program.

Trained as a chemist, but inspired by the commercialization movement, she ultimately studied the intersection of science and the law. Dr. Evans earned her J.D. degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law and has over twenty-five years of experience as an intellectual property attorney and mediator. This has given her proficiency in several areas of domestic and international law, including the law of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, food and drugs, securities, antitrust, technology and biotech, business, contracts, and commercial transactions. Dr. Evans has been called upon to act as an expert witness in legal cases and has been an expert consultant on proposed legislation. She serves on numerous professional committees and contributes her expertise as a reviewer for peer reviewed journals and textbooks. She is licensed to practice law in Texas and admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She is also a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Dr. Evans has individually researched and authored over 100 legal articles that concern business, intellectual property, and technology law issues. She is frequently invited to publish articles as an expert on various legal issues and several of her articles have been cited in state and national law treatises, court documents, and judicial opinions. Most of her recent work has focused on trade secret law issues. She is a coauthor of the Practical and Writing Exercises Workbook to Intellectual Property Law Legal Aspects of Innovation and Competition published by West Academic. In addition, her work with Texas land conservation efforts over the years led to her authorship of the book Texas Real Estate Contracts that is now in its fifth edition. For her contributions to legal scholarship, Dr. Evans received an Achievement Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities from the College of Liberal Arts.

For her dedication to her students, Dr. Evans was a College of Liberal Arts Dean Nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching and she has received recognition as a Favorite Professor from the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society for several years. She has over 30 years of teaching experience and nearly 20 years of experience with learning management systems. She holds certification in Advanced Online Course Design and currently teaches several online and hybrid courses for the Legal Studies graduate program.

Research Interests

Intellectual property, business, and technology law