Michelle N. Farkas

Michelle N. Farkas is a shareholder at Gravel & Shea PC in Burlington, Vermont, where she focuses on complex commercial real estate transactions. She represents developers and non-institutional investors in acquisitions, development, financing, zoning, and land use matters. Farkas also advises local and national landlords and tenants on commercial and retail leasing and assists developers with condominium and planned unit developments.

Farkas earned a B.A. from Cornell University in 1993 with distinction in all subjects and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. cum laude from Boston College Law School in 1996, where she served as a Note Editor of the Third World Law Journal. Her academic background supports a practice requiring careful analysis of property rights, financing arrangements, development requirements, leases, and complex real estate transactions.

Before joining Gravel & Shea in 1999, Farkas practiced at Goodwin Procter in Boston. Her clients have included retail, residential, and mixed-use developers, ski industry developers, wireless service providers, industrial and manufacturing companies, and small business owners. She also participates in the firm’s emerging technologies group, focusing on potential applications of blockchain technology to real estate transactions and the evolving legal issues connected to new transactional systems.

Michelle N. Farkas is admitted in Vermont and Massachusetts and belongs to the Chittenden County, Vermont, Massachusetts, and American Bar Associations. She serves as a board member and Governance Committee Chair for the ACLU of Vermont. Her professional recognition includes listings in Chambers USA since 2003 and The Best Lawyers in America since 2007, along with Super Lawyers recognition and selection as a 2025 Forbes Best-in-State Lawyer for commercial real estate.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Gravel & Shea PC
• Member, Chittenden County Bar Association
• Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Vermont Bar Association

Licensed State

• Vermont
• Massachusetts

Education

• Boston College Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• Cornell University
  Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Awards & Badges