Melissa Lehane Rawlinson

Melissa Lehane Rawlinson is an attorney on Miller Nash’s education and employment team, focusing primarily on litigation and representing higher education institutions, including universities, colleges, and community colleges, as well as K-12 religious and private schools and public school districts. She advises the firm’s education clients on a range of matters that affect their students, administrators, educators, and employees. Melissa also counsels public school districts on matters from infancy through post high school eligibility involving special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. She represents education clients in state and federal court as well as in front of administrative bodies in disputes involving race, gender, and age discrimination, disability discrimination and accommodation issues, wage and hour claims, wrongful discharge, retaliation, as well as general tort and contract claims. Her strong litigation background and employment experience position her well to assist in complex and representative wage and hour matters, including class and collective actions involving compensation, misclassification, and overtime claims.

Melissa joined Miller Nash first as a summer clerk, then as a litigation associate where she participated in trials, arbitrations, and mediations related to complex business and employment matters. She took an extended leave of absence from the firm to focus on raising her three daughters. During her leave, she volunteered and served in multiple leadership roles with educational institutions and youth and student activity groups, gaining valuable experience that now guides and informs her practice serving educational clients. Miller Nash welcomed Melissa back to the firm in 2021 as special counsel.