Wayne Melnick

Biography

Wayne S. Melnick is a Partner in the firm’s Government Law and Business and Professional Liability practice groups. He is an accomplished trial attorney and has tried over 50 jury trials to verdict in cases throughout the country. Mr. Melnick has a broad-based litigation practice with a focus on local government defense. He has defended cities, counties, school districts, teachers, administrators, sheriffs, and various other types of governmental entities and individuals in civil rights and general liability matters in both state and federal court. Mr. Melnick's practice also includes defense of clients in a variety of commercial and complex litigation matters. He is panel counsel for a number of the nation's largest providers of commercial general liability and professional coverage and also serves as general counsel for charter schools in Georgia. Mr. Melnick received both his undergraduate and law degree from Emory University. He served as a law clerk with the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, serving as clerk to The Honorable W. Homer Drake, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge and The Honorable A. David Kahn, Chief Bankruptcy Judge. He also has served as a litigation instructor at Emory University School of Law in the Kessler-Eidson Trial Techniques Program and the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Pre-Trial Discovery and Deposition Bootcamp.

Areas of Practice

Government Liability

Business and Professional Liability

Bar Admissions

All Georgia State and Superior Courts

All Florida Circuit and County Courts

U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia

Georgia Court of Appeals

All Florida District Courts of Appeal

U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit

Supreme Court of Georgia

Florida Supreme Court

United States Supreme Court

Education

Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, 1993, J.D.

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1990, B.A.

Representative Published Works

Suppression of Identity: Has the Supreme Court Carved Yet Another Exception to the Exclusionary Rule?, 9 Fla. Defender 24 (1997) [cited in State v. Perkins, 760 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 2000)].

Sauce for the Goose: Turning Plaintiffs' Spoliation of Evidence Against Them, Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Journal (2013).

Representative Cases AEW # 2 Corp. v. Federal Ins. Company, 268 Ga. App. 740 (2004) Duffy v. Lyles, 281 Ga. App. 377, 636 S.E. 2d 91 (2006) Dennis v. Putnam County Board of Education, 260 Fed. Appx. 171 (11th Cir. 2007) Palmer v. Stewart County School District, 215 Fed. Appx. 822 (11th Cir. 2007) Wilbourne v. Forsyth County School District, 306 Fed. Appx. 473 (11th Cir. 2009) Grammens v. Dollar, 287 Ga. 618, 697 S.E. 2d 775 (2010) Cohen v. Davis Academy, 310 Ga. App. 761, 714 S.E. 3d 350 (2011) cert denied, 714 S.E. 2d 350 (2011), cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 2106 (2012), reh’g denied (2012) Raines v. Maughan, 312 Ga. App. 303, 718 S.E. 2d 135 (2011) Long v. Murray County School District and Linder, 522 Fed. Appx. 576 (11th Cir. 2013) Classes/Seminars Taught

Pools, Tools, and Beer- Serving Fools: A Georgia Homeowner's Liability Claims Review, 2014

Preparing Your Witness: More Updated Rules to Surviving Depositionland, 2013

One For the Road: Liability for Acts of Intoxicated Persons in Georgia, 2013

Sauce for the Goose: Using Plaintiffs’ Spoliation of Evidence Against Them, 2013

Skits and Suds On the Road, Ethics Uncorked, Moderator, 2013

Everything You Want And Need to Know as a Car and Home Owner About the Law and Insurance*, 2012

Preparing Your Witness: Updated Rules to Surviving Depositionland, 2012

Skits and Suds, Ethics Uncorked, Moderator, 2012

Fire Damage Claims: A Glimpse into the Attorney’s Perspective, 2012

Skits and Suds, Ethics Uncorked, Moderator, 2011

Understanding the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, 2011

Premises Liability 360°, Dissecting a Real Life Trial from Complaint to Verdict: Building Manager's Strategy, 2011

Preparing Your Witness: Rules to Surviving Depositionland, 2010

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Emerging Technology – What You, Your Faculty & Staff Must Know to Keep Students Safe, 2010

Medicare’s New Mandatory Reporting, 2009

Yes We Can! Tendering Defense and Indemnity, 2009

Excluding Experts Under Daubert, 2008

Understanding the Implications of Thurman v. State Farm on Available UM/UIM Coverage Calculations in GA,  2008

Deal or No Deal: Avoiding the Bad Faith Briefcase, 2007

How to Try and Lose Your Case in the Media, 2006

Insurance Bad Faith in Georgia: A Review of Existing Law and the Changes Georgia’s New Tort Reform Bring to the Table, 2005

Mediation: Tips and Tools, 2005

Expectations on Referrals in New Cases, 2004

Federal Removal Strategies, 2004

Adjunct Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law, 1995 – 2000

Professional Associations and Memberships

Atlanta Bar Association

State Bar of Georgia

Florida Bar Association

Atlanta Claims Association

Defense Research Institute

Georgia Defense Lawyers Association - State-at-Large Representative to Board of Directors; Education Committee Chairperson; Logo Committee, Member; Strategy Planning Committee, Member

Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, Member

Municipal Law Committe, Member

Education

No information available.

Admissions/Licenses

• Bar Admissions: GA, FL