Melanie S. Taylor

Melanie S. Taylor is a partner with Bendin, Sumrall & Ladner. At BSL, Melanie’s representation includes corporations, business owners, hospitals and individual medical providers in complex litigation and medical malpractice matters. She is also counsel for businesses ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies in the retail, financial, and construction industries. Prior to joining BSL, Melanie was a litigator with large national firms where she worked on cases involving class actions, construction, mold, product liability, contracts, insurance defense, pharmaceuticals, and general litigation.

Melanie graduated with honors from Duke University with joint degrees in Political Science and Spanish. She earned her law degree at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. At Georgetown, she competed on the Alternative Dispute Resolution team of the Barrister's Council, twice chaired mock trial competitions for the Catholic University Model United Nations Conference, provided legal and policy counsel to national charities through the Federal Legislation Clinic, and served as Executive Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Poverty Law and Policy. Melanie also taught Spanish to students in kindergarten through eighth grade at a school in Washington, D.C.

Outside of BSL, Melanie is active in her church and community, and enjoys martial arts, running, and reading. She is in her fifth year serving as President of a Board of Directors that represents 193 homeowners in metro-Atlanta. She has also participated in the Awareness program of Athena’s Warehouse, which is an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization imparting life and career advice, promoting community service, and providing prom dresses, to low-income high school girls. Melanie is also a mock trial coach for students at South Atlanta High School.

PRACTICE GROUPS

Professional Negligence / Medical Malpractice
Melanie has defended hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers in pre-litigation medical malpractice matters and in law suits. She has consulted her clients concerning how to avoid litigation, best practices after becoming involved in litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. Her representation has involved preparing her clients and experts for all stages of litigation and defending against allegations of negligence, wrongful death, and agency and employment relationships, and other liability claims.

General Liability
Melanie’s general liability experience includes premises liability cases concerning injuries on commercial and residential property, products liability, construction defects, and landlord-tenant issues. She has been involved in the defense of numerous cases arising out of slip and fall incidents, other incidents causing various injuries, product defects and malfunctions, robberies, and violent crimes on commercial properties. She also counsels her clients before they are involved in litigation, for example, to a construction company client seeking legal counsel regarding waterproofing and subcontractor concerns that affected multiple unrelated projects.

EDUCATION

Juris Doctor, 2003, Georgetown University Law Center
Bachelor of Arts, with Honors, 2000, Duke University
Bachelor of Arts, 2000, Duke University

ADMITTED

Georgia, 2003
Georgia Court of Appeals
Supreme Court of Georgia
District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

MEMBERSHIPS

State Bar of Georgia
Atlanta Bar Association
Georgia Hospital Association
Georgia Society for Healthcare Risk Management

PUBLICATIONS

“A Primer on the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act Overview,” co-authored with Sharon King, HBSS For the Record, Winter 2005
“2006-2007 Update on the law of Medical Negligence,” co-authored with Timothy H. Bendin; for the Georgia Malpractice Institute
“2007 GSHRM Update on the law of Medical Negligence,” co-authored with Timothy H. Bendin
“Retroactive Application of Georgia's Offer of Judgment Statute is Unconstitutional,” HBSS For the Record, Summer 2007

SPEAKING

Preparing Medical Information for Use at Trial, National Business Institute, 2012
Survey of Georgia Premises Liability cases, 2009-2010
Medical Document Management, National Business Institute, 2010
Survey of Georgia Premises Liability cases, 2007-2009
Medical Malpractice Law and Case Studies for Anesthesiologists and Anesthetists, 2009
Legal Issues for Hospital Risk Managers, 2008-present (bi-annually)
Legal Issues for Charge Nurses Emory University Hospital, 2006-present
Legal Issues for Nurses Emory University Hospital, 2006-2007
Documentation for Advanced Med-Surg Nurses Crawford Long, 2006
Legal Issues for Nurses Crawford Long, 2006
Legal Issues for Medical Professionals Budd Terrace, 2006

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

Most recently defended a client against a multi-million dollar medical malpractice claim before a Dekalb County jury and received a unanimous jury verdict for the client.