36th Floor
One American Square
Indianapolis, Indiana 46282
Topic: "The True Bucket List"
Assistant United States Attorney Shelese Woods
Shelese Woods is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and the Chief of the Civil Division. In this capacity, she supervises a team of attorneys and legal support personnel who represent the United States of America and its agencies and employees in civil litigation in district court and in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Shelese has litigated a wide variety of issues, including False Claims Act cases, Bivens lawsuits, and administrative and environmental law. She also serves as the Civil Health Care Fraud Coordinator, and was the Civil Appellate Counsel for ten years.
Before joining the United States Attorney's Office, Shelese was an Associate Corporation Counsel for the Litigation Department of the City of Indianapolis under Mayor Bart Peterson, where she represented the City in state and federal cases, including appeals to the United States Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Indiana state courts of appeal. Shelese was also an Associate in the Litigation and Appellate Practice Sections at Barnes & Thornburg for several years before working for the City of Indianapolis, where she also represented clients in numerous states and judicial districts.
Shelese graduated cum laude from the Maurer School of Law: Indiana University - Bloomington, Indiana, and received a B.A. in Political Science, with honors, from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
After law school, Shelese clerked for the Honorable Randall T. Shepard, Chief Justice, Indiana Supreme Court, and the Honorable William I. Garrard, Indiana Court of Appeals.
Shelese is a Past-President of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the Indianapolis Bar Association. Shelese taught Legal Research, Analysis and Communication on an adjunct basis at the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis. She is also a member of the Indiana Supreme Court's Committee on Character and Fitness.
Shelese is married and has three children. She also volunteers coaching the Harvard Model Congress Team at Franklin Community High School; is a member of Franklin Tri-Kappa; and is a member of the Youth Council at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin.
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