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Melissa Brown is a family law practitioner in Charleston, South Carolina. She handles complex divorce and other family law matters. Melissa is a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML). The 1600 AAML Fellows across the United States are generally recognized by judges and attorneys as preeminent family law practitioners with a high level of knowledge, skill and integrity.
In 1987, Melissa received her B.A. in History as part of the American Studies Program at the University of Virginia. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1991. While in law school, she was a member of the Order of the Barristers, the National Moot Court Team, and the Moot Court Bar.
After law school, Melissa clerked for the Honorable William L. Howard. She then served as an Assistant Solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. In 1993, she began practicing exclusively in the Family Courts of South Carolina as an associate for Lee M. Robinson, PA, whose firm later merged with Nexsen, Pruet, Jacobs, Pollard and Robinson. In 1999, Melissa started her current practice.
Melissa is a past Chair of the South Carolina Family Law Council where she recently returned as a representative. While Chair, the Council published the first South Carolina Family Lawyers’ Tool Kit.
She is a 2001 graduate of the American Bar Association (ABA) Family Law Trial Advocacy School and was a judge for the ABA Schwab Family Law Legal Writing Contest (’07-’08). Melissa is very involved with the ABA Family Law Section. She was 2008 – 2009 Co-Chair of the ABA Family Law CLE Sponsorship Committee and Co-Editor of the ABA CLE daily Newsletters (’08 spring and fall, ’09 spring conferences). Melissa is also a Certified Family Court Mediator.
In 2008, Melissa graduated from the Buckley School of Public Speaking. Recently, she served as Co-Chair of the South Carolina Hot Tips Family Law CLE (’08-’09), the South Carolina Advanced Family Law CLE (’04,’08), and she has presented numerous other continuing legal education programs on an international, national and state wide basis, including presentations for the ABA, National Constitutional Center, The Legal Education Institute, South Carolina Bar Family Law Association, South Carolina Bar Trial Section, Charleston County Bar Family Law Section, and the National Business Institute.
Melissa has also presented nationwide phone-casts and web casts for the ABA, Atticus Legal Consulting Group and the National Constitutional Center. In 2009, Melissa presented in Montreal to a joint meeting of the ABA Family Law Section and the Canadian Family Law Section. Locally, she has presented to the Center For Women, the Mount Pleasant Entrepreneurial Women, and Women@Work.
Her family law related articles are published in national and state journals such as the American Journal of Family Law, University of South Carolina Law Review, the State Bar of Georgia Family Law Review, The South Carolina Lawyer, and the ABA Family E-Newsletter. In addition, some of her articles are cited in Am. Jur. Proof of Facts, Am. Jur. Trials and Arizona Superior Court Law Library Court Informer, among other journals.
A native Charlestonian, Melissa, her husband Todd, and their children, Ellen Hudson (16) and Fleetwood (14), reside in Charleston. She is an active member of her community, particularly, St. Michael’s Church.
Melissa’s CV outlines her extensive involvement in all the above legal and community organizations.
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