Before joining Valkenaar PLLC, Melissa served as an Attorney Advisor for the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review. Based on her outstanding performance, Melissa was promoted to lead Attorney Advisor to over twenty Immigration Judges across South Texas. During her tenure with the federal government, Melissa drafted decisions and provided counsel on complex immigration issues ranging from relief from removal proceedings to high-profile national security cases. Melissa was one of few attorneys across the United States qualified to assist in the adjudication of cases requiring top-secret security clearance. She entered federal service directly from law school through the Attorney General Honors Program. Before her appointment, Melissa interned for the Department of Justice and the Honorable Justice Beth Watkins at the Fourth Court of Appeals.  

During law school, Melissa served as Editor in Chief of the St. Mary’s Law Journal and graduated in the top 10% of her class. As a national and state moot court champion, Melissa won several speaking and best-brief awards at numerous competitions. Before graduation, she was one of nine Texas law students awarded the Excellence in Appellate Advocacy Award by the State Bar of Texas. She was inducted into the National Order of the Barristers and received the Patricia L. Scott Award for being the top advocate at St. Mary’s.