The head of the Macon office, Mel is an experienced labor lawyer who has handled over 100 union elections, including several of over 1000 employees in the voting unit. He has represented management in numerous unfair labor practice proceedings, representation case hearings, objections case hearings, as well as arguments before the Courts of Appeals. He has also successfully defended the Company in 10(j) proceedings and obtained injunctions in strikes. He has acted as the collective bargaining spokesman in numerous collective bargaining proceedings and arbitrations. He has represented management in claims involving sexual harassment, retaliatory discharge, disability, age, race, religion, and sex discrimination. He has successfully represented companies in numerous wage and hour claims. He has assisted companies in due diligence, mergers, acquisitions and decertifications, representation case matters, and has successfully represented management in the largest elections in Georgia and North Carolina in the last ten years. Mel has also provided companies with preventative training in all areas of employment law and conducted numerous mock union campaigns as a training exercise. Mel regularly speaks for the state Chamber of Commerce at the Developing Labor Law Section Midwinter meetings for the American Bar Association, the Georgia Employers’ Association, SHRM chapters. He also contributes regularly to the Mercer University Law Review and has authored several BNA articles. Before joining Constangy, Mel was an attorney with the NLRB, in-house labor counsel, and a partner in other management labor law firms.

Publications/Presentations

Contributing Editor to the Developing Labor Law, BNA, 1979-Present, and Chapter Editor, 2002 to present
Co-Author, Wrongful Termination Under Georgia Law, 1988
Co-Author, Section 7 Update, The Labor Lawyer, Spring 1988
Co-Author, Injuries in the Workplace, Georgia Labor and Employment Law, 1993
Co-Author, The Elusive Law of Intermittent Strikes, The Labor Lawyer, Summer 1998 and in the Dec. 19, 1998, edition of the Daily Labor Report
Co-Author, Labor & Employment Law, Annual Survey of Georgia Law, 2001, 53 Mercer Law Review 349, 2002-2004
Annual Mercer University School of Law Survey
Panelist with Robert J. Battista; Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, "Recent Developments and Critical Issues Before the NLRB, High Stakes Employment Litigation Seminar, Spring 2005.
American Bar Association presentation, Elusive Law of Intermittent Strikes
Editor of the 2007 Georgia's Defense Lawyers' Association Law Journal
Oakwood - The Strategic and Tactical Implications

Professional Activities/Associations

Board of Directors of the Georgia Employers’ Association
Board of Directors of the State Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association
Member, Vineville United Methodist Church
Member, Cashier United Methodist Church

Awards and Recognitions

Best Lawyers In America
Top One Hundred Labor Attorneys in the United States by Labor Relations Institute, Inc.

Other Personal Background Information

In his leisure time, Mel thoroughly enjoys golf and his grandchildren!

> close window ----- > top

Education

University of Alabama School of Law,
Tuscaloosa, AL
J.D., 1971

Emory University,
Atlanta. GA
B.A., Chemistry, 1968

Admitted

• Alabama, 1971
• Georgia, 1977