Melissa A. Meister is Senior Counsel at Hunt, Ortmann, Palffy, Nieves, Darling & Mah, Inc. Ms. Meister is an experienced trial and appellate attorney who has tried cases and argued appeals in state and federal courts across the country. She specializes in labor and employment counseling and litigation, and also handles business and construction litigation matters.
A former Department of Justice Trial Attorney and Assistant United States Attorney, Ms. Meister is not only a skilled trial attorney and appellate advocate, but has extensive experience conducting internal investigations and helping employers resolve workplace issues. Given her background as a federal prosecutor, Ms. Meister is particularly knowledgeable about criminal issues that arise in all types of civil cases (such as criminal infractions in construction matters and employees who commit crimes utilizing company resources). Ms. Meister has been named to Best Lawyers in America every year since 2021.
Ms. Meister enjoys learning about her clients and their businesses and is as comfortable thinking on her feet in a courtroom as she is in talking to her clients and their employees on an individual basis. Ms. Meister is a former Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clerk for Judge William C. Canby, a former legal writing professor, and her law review note was cited by the United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Louisiana in 2008.
Ms. Meister attended The University of Arizona for both college and law school. During law school, she won the moot court competition, was an editor for the University of Arizona Law Review and took particular pride in winning first place in The University of Arizona’s flag football and women’s basketball intramural competitions. Ms. Meister graduated law school summa cum laude and Order of the Coif and she is currently admitted to practice in California and Arizona.
