Melana Dayanim

Bio

Melana joined the firm in 2025 as an Associate Attorney after earning her J.D. from Duke University School of Law. While there, she served as Co-President of the Government and Public Service Society, advocating for and building community with fellow public interest law students. As a Board member of the Duke Law chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Melana planned events focused on connecting students with the labor movement on campus and in the community. She also served as the Special Projects Editor for theDuke Law Journal, coordinating the Journal's annual Administrative Law Symposium. Upon graduation she received the 2025 Justin Miller Award for Integrity.

Melana gained practical experience litigating for workers while externing with the North Carolina Justice Center's Workers' Rights Project and directly advocating for clients as a student attorney with the Criminal Defense Clinic. She spent both summers during law school in the labor movement, first as a Peggy Browning Fellow at the United Steelworkers Union and then as a Summer Associate with Patterson Harkavy, LLP, North Carolina's leading advocates for labor.

Before entering law school, Melana served with AmeriCorps VISTA at Vermont Legal Aid where she both supported the formation of a medical-legal partnership for clients with opioid use disorders and sparked her interest in lawyering for social change. In the following years she became a community and political organizer for progressive causes and candidates, building a skill set that informs her approach as an attorney.