Lewis and Roca is pleased to announce that Melanie Pate has joined the firm’s Phoenix office as a partner in the Labor and Employment practice group. Previously, Pate served as Chief Counsel of the Arizona Civil Rights Division (“ACRD”) at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, where she worked for 15 years in litigation and management-level employment-related positions.

As Chief Counsel of the ACRD, Pate managed and supervised the day-to-day operations of the division. Before that, Pate served for nine years as a litigator in the Employment Law Section of the Attorney General’s Office. She defended state agencies in state and federal courts in a variety of employment-related cases. She brings a true insider’s perspective into how state agencies function and make decisions. 

As part of Lewis and Roca’s Labor and Employment practice, Pate helps her clients resolve complex employment law matters including discrimination, sexual harassment, FMLA, FLSA and related issues. She routinely represents clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona Civil Rights Division. 

Pate received her Juris Doctor in 1996 from the University of Arizona James E. Rodgers College of Law. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in business, communications and political science in 1992.