Business & Commercial Litigation
Melissa Caulum Williams is an attorney in the Madison office of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek specializing in business litigation. Ms. Caulum Williams' varied experience has focused on contract disputes, trust and estate litigation including fiduciary liability and beneficiary disputes, real estate litigation, landlord/tenant issues including commercial evictions and lease agreement disputes, accounting litigation and commercial construction cases, asbestos litigation, fair credit reporting act proceedings, creditor's rights and adversary bankruptcy proceedings. She has litigated cases in state and federal courts in Wisconsin and other jurisdictions.
While in law school, Ms. Caulum Williams served as an intern to Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and served as a student lawyer for the University of Wisconsin Law School's Consumer Litigation Clinic.
Education
- University of Wisconsin Law School, J.D., 2007 (Member, Wisconsin Law Review, Note & Comments Editor; Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, Vienna, Austria; Recipient of Wisconsin State Bar Award for Academic Achievement in Professional Responsibilities).
- University of Wisconsin, B.A., 2000
Admissions
- State Bar of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 2007
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2008
Awards & Distinctions
- Named a "Rising Star" on the Wisconsin Super Lawyers list (2011, 2012)
Representative Work
- Successfully represented multiple real estate companies in evictions of commercial tenants
- Prevailed on summary judgment motion in federal court, dismissing FDCPA claims against multi-national bank
- Successfully defended national bank in consumer credit dispute involving arbitration clause
- Represented multi-national paper machinery manufacturing company in contractual dispute with customer
- Assisted creditors in adversary bankruptcy proceedings
- Assisted judgment holders in collecting against judgment debtors
Professional Associations
- Inns of Court, Member
- State Bar of Wisconsin, Member
Community Involvement
- Edgewood High School Alumni Association, Member
- Semester at Sea Alumni Association, Member
Articles and Presentations
- Postadolescent Brain Development: A Disconnect Between Neuroscience, Emerging Adults, and the Corrections System, 3 Wis. L. Rev. 729 (2007).