Howell, an administrative partner in the firm of Shinbaum & Howell in Montgomery, Alabama from 1990 to 1998, was responsible for personnel, payroll, vendor relations, and supervising the litigation work of the other attorneys. Previously she served as Chief of Legal Section and Assistant Attorney General for the Alabama Medicaid Agency in Montgomery, where she drafted the agency’s Administrative Code, and represented the agency in court proceedings and administrative hearings. From 1974-82 and from 1983-89, she engaged in private civil litigation and appellate practice in Montgomery. In 1982-83, Ms. Howell served as an Adjunct Professor at Jones School of Law and Faulkner University in Montgomery.

Ms. Howell is admitted to practice before the Alabama Supreme Court; the United States Supreme Court; United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits; United States District Courts for the Middle, Southern, and Northern Districts of Alabama; the United States Tax Court; and the United States Claims Court. She is a graduate of the National College of Advocacy of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), and received her J.D. degree from Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama, and her B.A. degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery. In May 2006, she earned her LL.M. from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.

Ms. Howell has been published in numerous legal journals and newsletters, and has presented papers and conducted CLE presentations for various organizations, such as ATLA, the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, and the Montgomery County Bar Association.