As the Director of Trial Advocacy and Director of Externships at the College of Law, McNally plays a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of legal professionals. She teaches pretrial and trial skills courses at the College of Law and focuses on hands-on experiences, empowering students with the practical skills and confidence they need to excel in the real-world challenges of their profession. Her expertise is not limited to academia. She has also taught practicing lawyers about litigation at the National Institute of Advocacy and Michigan’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education. In addition, she has hosted 15 regional and national mock trial competitions.

Her commitment to legal excellence and ethics is evident in her extensive service on the State Bar of Michigan's (SBM) Standing Committee on Character and Fitness from 2005 to 2013 and her tenure on the SBM Young Lawyers Executive Council between 2005 and 2007. In 2023, she presented at Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Training Advocates Conference, and in 2024, she served on the steering committee for the Hillman Advocacy Program. Recognized for her exceptional contributions to the field, Law & Politics honored her as a Rising Star for six consecutive years, from 2010 to 2016. She earned a Master Advocate Designation from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy in 2016.

Beyond her legal accomplishments, McNally is a fervent advocate for public health, seamlessly integrating her legal expertise with a passion for societal well-being. In 2018, she was appointed by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for a four-year term as ACIP’s consumer representative. She was re-appointed for a fifth year. In this role, she provided perspectives on the social and community aspects of vaccination. The ACIP develops recommendations on how to use vaccines to control disease in the United States.

A distinguished alumna of Michigan State University College of Law, she graduated in 2004, earning a jurisprudence award in Trial Practice. Her law school tenure was marked by remarkable achievements in advocacy, including winning the Best Brief, Best Oralist, and Best Overall awards in the Moot Court Class Competition in 2002. Furthermore, she was a member of the national championship team for the Pepperdine Entertainment Law Moot Court Competition in 2003 and secured second place in both the Best Oralist and Best Brief categories at the Wagner Labor Law Moot Court Competition in 2004.

She completed her undergraduate education at the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 2000. Her leadership was evident early on, as she served as the judicial vice president for the Panhellenic Association (1999-2000) and president of Alpha Chi Omega (1998-99), setting the foundation for her esteemed career in law and advocacy.

J.D. Michigan State University College of Law
B.A. University of Michigan