Michelle C. F. Derrico was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Southern California. She graduated from high school in Atlanta and moved to Athens, Georgia to attend the University of Georgia. Michelle received a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from the University of Georgia in 1981, with a dual major in microbiology and animal science, and a Juris Doctor in 1990.
Michelle financed and supplemented her diverse education with a diverse employment history. She has worked building pool tables, in a malaria lab, as a wine consultant, in the Georgia State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and in a ketchup and condiment factory, as a small sample. As an attorney, Michelle served as an assistant public defender in both Georgia and Virginia and has been in private practice in both states.
