Melissa Hanson teaches first-year Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing as well as an upper-level writing course on Electronic Discovery. Prior to joining the Duke faculty, Hanson taught Legal Writing, Federal Courts, Employment Law, and Employment Discrimination at Florida State University’s College of Law. At FSU, in 2017, Hanson was the first Legal Writing professor to be awarded the university-wide Graduate Teaching Award.
Prior to teaching, Hanson spent 11 years as a career law clerk to two federal judges, Magistrate Judge Monte C. Richardson and Judge Brian J. Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Hanson began her career in private practice at Foley & Lardner, where she specialized in labor and employment litigation for seven years.
Hanson graduated second in her class from the University of Florida College of Law, where she served on the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She received her bachelor of science from the University of California, Berkeley.