Melanie Acuña

Ms. Melanie Acuña graduated from Regis College in Massachusetts in 2004. She received a bachelor’s degree in Communications with a minor in Political Science. Soon after college graduation, Ms. Acuña moved to Washington, D.C. and worked as a litigation clerk for Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner, LLP, a prominent D.C. based Patent law firm.

In 2009, Ms. Acuña graduated from the University of the District of Columbia – David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL) where she was a recipient of the Dave Niblack Scholarship. During her time at UDC-DCSL, Ms. Acuña was a Dean’s Fellow, President of the Student Bar Association, and an active member in Law Review, the Latino Law Student Association, and the Black Law Student Association. Ms. Acuña completed over 700 hours in Tax Clinic and the Community Development Clinic. These clinics allowed her to represent low-income D.C. residents with various legal issues. Ms. Acuña also had the opportunity to intern at Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, New Orleans Public Defender, and the Office of the Public Defender for Prince George’s and Montgomery County. It had been through those experiences that she realized the many inequalities in our justice system. This included a lack of Spanish speaking interpreters available in the justice system to assist Latino clients. As a fluent Spanish speaker, Ms. Acuña has helped many attorneys and clients provide and receive proper representation.

After graduation, Ms. Acuña was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Sean D. Wallace in Prince George’s County Circuit Court. Most recently, Ms. Acuña worked at the Office of the Public Defender for Montgomery County for over four and half years. She has experience representing indigent clients in both District and Circuit Court and was active in the Montgomery County Adult Drug Court Program. Ms. Acuña has handled serious traffic offenses, misdemeanors, felonies, and violation of probation. She has had numerous bench and jury trials. Before Ms. Acuña’s departure from the Office of the Public Defender, she had the opportunity to co-chaired an attempted murder trial where her client was acquitted of all charges.

Ms. Acuña is a dedicated advocate, always fighting for her client’s best interest.

EDUCATION

University of the District of Columbia, J.D.

Regis College in Massachusetts, B.S.