Butler Snow attorney Melissa Fried Spence has joined the board of directors of Charleston Legal Access (CLA). The organization is a nonprofit, sliding-scale law firm dedicated to expanding access to legal services and rights in South Carolina to clients with moderate incomes. Learn more about CLA by clicking here.
Spence, a member of Butler Snow’s Labor & Employment practice group, has 13 years of legal experience building proactive strategies that help clients avoid long and protracted legal disputes involving a variety of labor and employment matters. She has negotiated and tried numerous cases to verdict, representing clients in a wide range of industries, and has represented clients before the South Carolina state and district courts, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor and South Carolina Human Affairs Commission.
Spence has been recognized for her exemplary work and commitment to the Charleston community with inclusion in the Charleston Regional Business Journal ‘Forty under 40’ list in 2020. She was listed as One to Watch by Best Lawyers in America® for Labor and Employment Law – Management in the 2021 and 2022 editions. She was also named a South Carolina Rising Stars honoree from 2016 to 2019 and is a graduate of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Leadership Charleston Class of 2019.
Spence holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from Wofford College and a Juris Doctorate with honors from Charleston School of Law. In her spare time, she serves as general counsel on the Palmetto Society for Human Resource Management board, board member for the Charleston Forum, and is the CLE coordinator for the employment and labor law section for the South Carolina Bar Association. She is also a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, Charleston County Bar Association and South Carolina Federal Bar Association Chapter.
