Mel joined the firm as a senior attorney in 2025. Mel is a passionate advocate on behalf of Native nations, with a range of litigation and policy experience in treaty rights, natural resources, land tenure, environmental, and administrative law. She has helped tribes secure victories in precedent-setting cases on implied treaty rights and environmental law. Her portfolio includes the first state court decision instructing agencies to give weight to tribal-government expertise before granting environmental permits, reversing a decision that failed to do so.

In addition to her work in Indian Country, Mel previously clerked at all three levels of Minnesota’s judicial system and litigated environmental cases for an advocacy organization in partnership with tribes. She was an Indian Law Fellow at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she taught Advanced Indian Law and a tribal law survey course.

William Mitchell College of Law, Salutatorian, 2015

Admitted to practice:

Minnesota