The CEASE Clinic would like to welcome Melina Lewis as its newest Post-Graduate Fellow.
As the Post-Graduate Fellow, Melina assists with the provision of direct legal services to survivors of child sexual abuse in civil tort litigation and juvenile court dependency cases. She participates in litigation and policy advocacy, which includes drafting and filing pleadings, appearing at hearings on behalf of clients, conducting legal research, maintaining open lines of communication with clients, and participating in local and statewide taskforces for survivors of child sexual abuse and trafficking.
Lewis earned her bachelor’s degrees and Juris Doctor from UGA. While in law school, she served as a student representative, auction chair and president of the law school chapter of the Equal Justice Foundation. She was also on the editorial board of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and served as the managing editor of the journal in her final year of law school. In 2018, Lewis was named the Tara Baker Memorial Scholar and in 2019, she received the Ellen Jordan Award for Outstanding Public Interest Student. Also during law school Lewis served as a Clerk for Hudson, Montgomery, Kalivoda & Connelly, where she assisted with personal injury, family law, and estate cases.
Prior to law school, Lewis gained valuable experience in the legal field as both an interim court clerk and intern in the Lee County Magistrate Court in her hometown of Leesburg, Georgia. She held an undergraduate internship at the Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. Throughout her undergraduate career, she participated in Phi Kappa Literary Society’s weekly meetings and lively debates. In her free time, Lewis enjoys reading crime novels, playing with her Goldendoodle, Apollo, and researching genealogy.