The practice:

Ms. Purcell and her team operate primarily in James Island and Folly Beach with occasional foray into Summerville and nearby areas. The primary offices are located on King Street downtown Charleston and on the corner of Folly and Camp Roads on James Island, but due to covid and other fun things, most work is done by the team remotely from James Island and satellite on Folly Beach. Most courts allow much of the work to be done telephonically prior to some of the trials, which allows us to do more and better work for less cost, which we pass on to our clients. The team believes firmly that the law does not need to be confined to the office and can sometimes come to the people. We are happy to hop on a call, a zoom call, or meet in person with our favorite folks – sometimes old school handshakes are far superior to any digital media.

The Principal – and Principle – Counselor:

Ms. Purcell is an experienced private and corporate multijurisdictional litigation and compliance attorney, formally in private since April 2011, with deep expertise and a versatile skillset stemming from nearly 20 years in real estate and over 15 years in litigation, both beginning before she became a licensed attorney, and both of which developed out of compassion and necessity. She also is known for providing compliance guidance in these legal arenas for global corporate financial institutions in ensuring their technology, from planning, to deployment into production, and future innovation plans all comply with federal and state banking and consumer protection requirements. Her understanding and passion for the law has provided her the privilege of serving thousands of clients – from individuals to large corporations – in proactive planning (from drafting and negotiating contracts with an eye on future compliance) to reactive responding to litigation, audits, and other scenarios. She is a master in big picture planning with an eye on end and target state needs, which has earned her a place among her peers as an excellent and well-respected advisor, mediator and litigator.

She grew up very poor as a child and was one of the first in her family to attend higher education. Today, she holds multiple post-graduate degrees, including a doctorate degree in law and a Masters of Business Administration, graduating with highest distinction, as an alumna of The Ohio State University. She holds a Masters of Science in Information Technology in Data Protection and Cloud Technology from Purdue also with top honors. She is passionate about access to justice, and uses that education to teach law to others (she teaches a “law school for non-lawyers” series offered by the state bar association in South Carolina in areas related to real estate, landlord/tenant rights, credit repair and consumer rights, as well as some ADA-and-FHA-related laws for Service Animals) in both English and Spanish to ensure everyone has access to the law – not just the elite or the wealthy.

In addition to her private practice, Ms. Purcell supports the Small Business Association, is a volunteer cooperating attorney for the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation, protecting digital rights and digital privacy), and provides pro bono services in housing for Veterans, non-English speakers, and low-income residents, occasionally volunteering for the Charleston Housing Court. She provides pro bono legal aid to the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, the Ohio Legal Aid Foundation, and South East Ohio Legal Aid. She serves on several state committees such as the Unauthorized Practice of Law and the Animal Law committee, protecting both people and animals from abuse and neglect. She additionally serves on several governance state committees overseeing the ethics and professionalism of real estate licensees, with the focused scope of consumer protection.

Melissa is also currently battling cancer and has been in and out of remission; she speaks publicly about life with and after cancer and its impact on mental health as well as its impact on practicing as a professional. Please feel free to reach out if you need a compassionate ear on this subject – she feels strongly that we are all connected and that nobody should have to fight it alone.  Melissa faces some disabilities as a result of her aggressive cancer treatments, and although she cannot have children, she has three retrievers which serve both as her service dogs as well as her favorite “good boys.” While she has very little down time, you may find her some early mornings trying to surf off the coast of Folly Beach – a pastime that is a labor of love, which, she admits with a knowing smile, she will never master.

Ella habla español, y le gustaría ayudarle a Usted con cualquier problema de derechos que tenga.