Davis, Thomas J.

Melanie E. Davis, a native of Maryville, Tennessee, graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.A. in French Magna Cum Laude in 1992. She was Phi Beta Kappa and a Normandy Scholar. She attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee from 1992-1993 in French Literature and went on to Law School, graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law Cum Laude in 1996. In Law School she was the President Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, a member of the Moot Court Board, a semi-finalist in the College of Law Advocates Prize, and a member of the Labor Law Moot Court Team. She was Woman Graduate of the Year in 1996.

While attending law school, Ms. Davis clerked for the U. S. Attorney's Office in Knoxville, Tennessee and for the Honorable Leon Jordan of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Ms. Davis joined Kizer & Black in 1995 and has been a partner since 2007. Her areas of practice include general civil and business litigation, personal injury, contract litigation, municipal law, land use law, property owners association law, condominium owners' association law, and appellate practice.

Ms. Davis has represented the City of Maryville since 1999 and as such represents the City Council, the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the City School Board. She has been active in drafting and enforcing numerous ordinances enacted by the City and in representing the City in its contracts and litigation.

Ms. Davis represents approximately 50 property owners' associations and condominium owners' associations throughout East Tennessee.  She also represents several planning commissions and utility districts in the area. 

Ms. Davis is Board Certified in civil trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  She is certified as a civil trial specialist by the Tennessee Commission of Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.  She is also certified by the National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy as a specialist in civil pretrial advocacy.

Ms. Davis has been a member of the Blount County Bar Association since 1996 and was President in 2001 and 2011. She additionally served as Speakers Chair from 1999-2001 and was on the Ethics Committee and Local Rules Committee.

Ms. Davis is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Municipal Attorneys Association, and Litigation Counsel of America.

Ms. Davis served as a hearing committee member for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility from 2006-2012.

Ms. Davis has presented CLE seminars on municipal law, local government law, property owners' associations, and law on the internet.

Ms. Davis is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, limited to trial lawyers who have obtained a trial verdict, award, or settlement in the amount of one million dollars or more.  She is a 2011 Mid-South Rising Star Super Lawyer in business litigation and received the same honor in 2010.  Ms. Davis was selected by the National Trial Lawyers as being in the Top 40 Under 40, recognizing her as one of the top 40 lawyers under the age of 40 in the state of Tennessee.

Ms. Davis is a member of the Board of Directors for the Blount County Community Action Agency.  She was on the Board of the Maryville City Schools Foundation from 2004-2009. She was a member of the Leadership Blount Class of 2001 and is a former Board member of the Blount County American Red Cross, the YWCA of Blount County, Childrens International Summer Villages, and Vocational Rehab of Blount County, Tennessee.

Ms. Davis is licensed to practice before Tennessee state courts, the United States District Courts in Tennessee, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

She has been married to Chad, a CPA, since 1992.  They live in Maryville and have three daughters.