Overview

Melanie Assad is an attorney with the firm's General Litigation practice group and is based in the firm's Grand Rapids office where she handles a wide range of insurance defense matters, as well as other civil litigation cases.

She drafts answers to discovery requests, motions, attends court hearings, takes depositions and will handle all aspects of the litigation process. In her practice, she:

• Handles and defends high-volume caseload, including PIP, third-party bodily injury, and UM/UIM cases.
• Handles premises liability and products liability cases.
• Appears at facilitation, settlement conferences, and motion hearings.
• Conducts legal research, draft motions, pleadings, discovery requests and responses, deposition summaries, reports, and correspondence.

Melanie earned her juris doctorate from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law in 2022. While there, her law review article “Van Buren v. United States: An Employer Defeat or Hackers’ Victory – Or Something in Between?” was published in the UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law. Prior to law school, Melanie received her undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University.

Outside the practice of law, Melanie loves hiking, traveling, and spending time with her two huskies.

Affiliations

Memberships & Affiliations

Legal Affiliations

• State Bar of Michigan
  • Member
  • Litigation Section Governing Council
• Ingham County Bar of Michigan
  • Member
• Western District of Michigan
  • Member
• Grand Rapids Bar Association
  • Member

News & Events

Speaking Engagements

• Updates on the Tort Threshold in Third Party Bodily Injury Cases, Insurance Alliance of Michigan (“IAM”) Claims Conference, September 2023

News

• Assad Elected to SBM Governing Council, Grand Rapids Legal News, October 2, 2024
• Preparing Women Business Leaders for 2024 Legal Challenges, Meltwater Newswire, February 20, 2024
• Foster Swift Welcomes Assad to Grand Rapids Office, Grand Rapids Legal News, February 5, 2024