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Yolanda Melville

Yolanda N. Melville serves as Senior Counsel and Director of Community Engagement, the position charged with serving as a liaison to stakeholders across the state to connect them with the Office’s initiatives. Melville was previously a Partner at Cooper Levenson, P.A., where she represented municipal and corporate entities as solicitor/general counsel, handled litigation in the federal and state courts, and led the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Melville clerked for the Honorable Susan F. Maven in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. She received her B.A. in English and Government from the College of William and Mary, M.S. in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University and J.D. from Howard University Law School, where she was the managing editor of the Human Rights and Globalization Law Review.

Professional Associations and Memberships

Yolanda has many credentials and association affiliations:

Awards and Honors

Yolanda has been honored with many awards for her work:

Community Involvement

Yolanda is very active in the community:

Education

Yolanda attended The College of William and Mary where she graduated in 2007 with a dual degree in English and Government. Yolanda also earned a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law in 2012.

Kelli Byers-Hooper

With nearly two decades of legal experience, Kelli Byers-Hooper has been a dedicated attorney since 2007, focusing exclusively on civil law. Her practice centers on serious injury and wrongful death cases, where she is committed to advocating for individuals and families facing significant loss. She has served as first chair in trials across both state and federal courts in Georgia, reflecting her strong courtroom presence and dedication to achieving justice for her clients.

In 2025, she successfully secured over $10 million in settlements, demonstrating both her skill in handling complex cases and her determination to deliver meaningful results. In addition to her litigation work, she is actively involved in the legal community through organizations such as the American Association for Justice and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, where she contributes to advancing the profession and supporting fellow advocates.

She has also participated in multiple leadership academies hosted by respected organizations, including the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers and the WIN List. Her passion for social impact is evident in her leadership roles, including chairing national events focused on issues affecting women and children. Among these efforts, she organized a widely recognized event celebrating Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s first day on the United States Supreme Court, which received coverage from national and local media outlets, including Law.com.

Beyond her professional achievements, she remains deeply engaged in her local community and is active in her church. She believes strongly in service, connection, and supporting others as foundational elements of a thriving and compassionate society.

Alfred Mathewson

Alfred Dennis Mathewson is an Emeritus Professor of Law and former Co-Dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law. He joined the faculty in 1983 after practicing corporate law in Denver, Colorado.

He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor from Yale University in 1978.

Throughout his academic career, Professor Mathewson held several leadership roles. From 1997 to 2002, he served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. From 2009 to 2014, he was the Acting and Interim Director of the UNM Africana Studies Program.

He has primarily taught courses in business and sports law and has published extensively in both areas. He is nationally recognized for his scholarship on sports law and the application of Title IX to African American female athletes. His expertise has led him to speak at law schools across the country, including Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and Yale.

His publications include Sports Law: A Modern Anthology (1999) (with Timothy Davis and Kenneth Shropshire), as well as numerous influential law review articles on sports law, gender equity, and intercollegiate athletics. His article on Major League Baseball’s monopoly power and the Negro Leagues is listed in the Harvard Guide to African American History.

Professor Mathewson has been an active member of the legal profession. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has served as president of the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association and the Sam Cary Bar Association in Denver. He is also a member and past chair of the Section on Law and Sports of the American Association of Law Schools.

In 2009, he was named Business Lawyer of the Year by the New Mexico State Bar for his work developing the UNM School of Law’s Business and Tax Law Clinic.

Beyond scholarship and teaching, Dean Mathewson has long viewed his talents as community resources. In 2014, he organized law students to present on community input processes related to the Department of Justice settlement agreement with the City of Albuquerque concerning police use-of-force reforms. He later assembled a team of lawyers to file an amicus brief on behalf of community organizations during the federal court fairness hearing.

Since retiring from the full-time faculty, Professor Mathewson has remained active in legal education and community engagement.

Joaquin Madry

Joaquin Madry has significant experience litigating major catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases in federal and state court. He has tried numerous cases to verdict and has recovered more than $100 million for his clients. Joaquin has built an extensive record serving individuals and families who received substandard medical care or who were the victims of negligence, including the following few recent examples:

Joaquin is a frequent speaker on trial skills, advocacy, and career building. He is a board member of the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity and the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association and is active in the Crawford Black Bar Association and the American Association for Justice Minority Caucus. He has been recognized by Law & Politics magazine as a Connecticut Super Lawyer every year since 2011. Joaquin has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America.

Trisha Starks-Byron

Attorney Trisha Starks-Byron is the founder of Starks Byron and concentrates her practice in the area of personal injury litigation. She has successfully represented clients in all types of negligence claims, including wrongful death, car and motorcycle accidents, slip and fall injuries, dog bite injuries, and premises liability claims.

Trisha is a Georgia native who graduated magna cum laude from Georgia Southern University and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law. She began her legal career as an associate attorney at a boutique personal injury firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to founding Starks Byron, she worked as lead attorney at another large, Atlanta based personal injury firm.

After personally representing hundreds of injured individuals, Trisha decided to pursue her dream of opening her own practice. She channels her passion for helping others into fighting for justice and guiding clients through the often complicated and confusing insurance process.

With a strong understanding of the court system and a talent for negotiation, Trisha successfully advocates for compensation on behalf of individuals injured by the negligence of others. She understands that the lawyer client relationship is built on trust and has worked to create a firm environment where clients feel comfortable discussing deeply personal matters.

The atmosphere at Starks Byron fosters positive outcomes for clients both financially and emotionally.