Melanie joined Levy Konigsberg in 2021, bringing with her a deep understanding of complex litigation, gained primarily through her experience as a Staff Attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
In 2022, Melanie had the honor and opportunity to participate in the first-ever civil trial related to the Flint Water Crisis: a trial aimed at holding the engineering entities accountable whose failures caused and exacerbated brain injuries in thousands of children in Flint, Michigan.
“The Flint Water Crisis is an example of a gross injustice. Unfortunately, Flint does not represent an isolated event – residents of communities across the United States are experiencing violations of their constitutional rights, as they continue to be lead poisoned by public water sources, maintained and controlled by a combination of local and state governments, the Federal government, and private entities.”
Subsequent to the trial concluding, Melanie continues to work on cases involving the children of Flint, as well as other cases across the United States involving lead contamination in public water systems in Benton Harbor, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi.
Recently, she argued in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, advocating for her minor client’s Fourteenth Amendment rights. Melanie, alongside LK partner Corey Stern, opposed four motions to dismiss arguing that individuals from the City of Benton Harbor, the State of Michigan, and two engineering firms (under the state actor doctrine) violated the children of Benton Harbor’s right to bodily integrity and to be free from state-created danger.
“I want our clients, colleagues, and opponents to know that the attorneys at LK will never stop advocating for our clients’ rights – even when it looks like there is no more gas left in the tank, we will keep on going until justice is rightly served.”
