Melissa Brown

Clinical Professor of Law Melissa Brown has devoted her entire career to advocating for the rights of the elderly and the disabled. Beginning in college and throughout law school, she worked in legal aid programs. Later, in her private practice, she continued to represent elder, injured and disabled clients. At her firm, Fraulob • Brown, she litigated cases for individual clients and health care providers in state and federal administrative law courts, state trial and appellate courts, and Federal District and Appellate Courts.

At McGeorge School of Law, Professor Brown teaches Elder Law & Social Policy, is the Director of the Elder & Health Law Clinic, and the Director of the Elder & Health Law Certificate of Concentration. She serves as the faculty advisor for the Native American Law Student Association. In addition, from 2013-2023 she served as the Legal Clinic Director, during which time she oversaw the development of the Legislative & Public Policy Clinic and the Homeless Advocacy clinic.  She received the 2022 Hether Clash Macfarlane Faculty Teaching Innovation Award which is conferred upon a McGeorge faculty member who demonstrated significant positive changes or innovations in his or her teaching. Most recently, it was announced that legal clinic students who dedicate significant pro bono time to meet the legal needs of their clients beyond their experiential learning requirements will receive the “Melissa C. Brown Legal Clinic Honors” certificate.

Professor Brown's students are involved in addressing the social determinants of health and civil legal needs of their clients. This includes the direct representation of clients, including courtroom advocacy. Her Elder & Health Law students participate in unique and innovative interdisciplinary classes that she has developed with UC Davis Medical School Faculty. Joining with UC Davis medical students, they explore medical and legal issues addressing mutual professional, ethical and legal issues such as informed consent, surrogate decision-making, end-of–life care, and elder abuse, the latter being identified by the Center for Disease Control as a significant public health concern.

Listed among "Sacramento's 40 Top Lawyers" from The Best Lawyers in America for more than a decade, and featured in Sacramento Magazine, Los Angeles Daily Journal and the Daily Recorder, Professor Brown has lectured extensively and provided legislative testimony and recommendations on behalf of injured workers, and the aging and disabled. This advocacy work has contributed to the development of the probate court investigator system, nursing home citation system, durable powers of attorney, alternative dispute resolution statutes and Medicare supplemental insurance protection for consumers.

Attorneys and law students use Professor Brown's book, Advising the Elderly or Disabled Client, which she co-authored Lawrence A. Frolik.  Professor Brown has produced film, video and written material for attorneys and advocates for the elderly and disabled in the states of Alaska, Arkansas, California and Texas, and for such organizations as the American Association of Retired Persons, the Presbyterian Church, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, and the California Continuing Education of the Bar. She has served as an expert witness for the NFL Players Association regarding injury claims, and is an arbitrator and mediator for collective bargaining agreements dealing with work injuries.

As an enrolled member of the Shawnee Tribe, she serves as a board member of the International Association for Indigenous Aging. She co-chairs the Sacramento Financial Abuse Specialist Team, a collaborative effort of the Sacramento County District Attorney and Adult Protective Services and is part of the California Elder Justice Coalition’s A*Team, a group of policy experts convened to examine the obstacles encountered by local elder abuse multidisciplinary teams and recommend policy and programmatic changes to improve the system statewide.