About Melissa A. Mihalick
Legal Assistant: Lavette Neshay | 713-554-6756 | lneshay@thompsonhorton.com
Coming from a family of educators, Melissa believes in the importance of education and through her practice hopes to assist Texas educational institutions in serving their communities.
Melissa’s practice focuses on higher education, assisting institutions with matters including board governance, open government laws, policy development, investigations, employment law, and student issues.
Education
- J.D., South Texas College of Law Houston, 2004
- B.A., Texas A&M University, 1998
Licensing & Court Admissions
- Licensed in the state of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Memberships & Recognitions
- Texas Association of Community College Attorneys
- State Bar of Texas School Law Section
Selected Client Representations
- Serves as board counsel for public educational institutions, advising clients on governance matters, including the Texas Open Meetings Act and Robert’s Rules of Procedure
- Assists educational institutions in drafting and developing policies and procedures
- Advises higher education clients on Title IX matters, including development of policies, procedures, and programs
- Represents higher education institutions in matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, including preparation of position statements
- Represents higher education institutions in United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights complaints and investigations
- Represents educational institutions in employment matters, including employee complaints, discipline, termination, and training
- Represents educational institutions in student matters, including disciplinary matters, and drafting and review of policies, handbooks, and manuals
- Conducted internal investigation of school district safety and security policies and procedures following on-campus incident
- Conducted internal investigation of allegations of improper testing procedures in public school district
- Assists public and private clients in public information matters, including preparation of briefing and correspondence with the Texas Attorney General’s office
Representative Speeches & Presentations
- Speaker, Texas Association of Community College Attorneys Conference 2017
- Co-Author, “Recovery for Student Athletes’ Injuries in the Face of Sovereign Immunity: A Hail Mary?” published in The Houston Lawyer, March/April 2019