Melinda Knisley

I have been a lawyer since 1984. Before I graduated from law school, I worked as a law clerk for Taft, Dinsmore, Jacobs Kleinman Seibel and McNally, Bea Larsen and Marianna Brown Bettman. I worked in the employment and litigation departments of Taft, Stettinius and Hollister in 1984, and worked there for 2 1/2 years. In 1987, I began working in the law department of Clopay Corporation, where I handled a broad variety of corporate legal work until leaving in 1999, as the Assistant General Counsel. At Clopay, I handled litigation and human resource/employment issues, as well as personal injury defense, real estate issues, merger and acquisitions, etc. Since 1999, I have been largely a plaintiff's attorney, although I have continued to handle some corporate work for our clients who own small to medium-sized businesses. My goal is always to be very available to our clients, to listen to them carefully and respond timely, and to do my very best to champion their causes, at the same time apprising them accurately of the risks of their cases.Specialties: Lawyers are not allowed to use the term "specialize" or "specialty." I focus my legal practice on employment law. I especially like sexual harassment, disability discrimination and FMLA cases. I also handle sexual abuse cases, as for example, when a doctor sexually abuses a patient. I have reviewed hundreds of severance agreements. I have handled many personal injury and some wrongful death cases, as well. I also am developing a nice practice relating to the privacy and security of medical records, which involves expertise in HIPAA and the HITECH Act, as those laws pertain to the privacy of electronic medical records.