Melissa M. Bean is an associate in the Litigation department, where she concentrates her practice on family law, including divorce, prenuptial/postnuptial agreements, custody, modification of decrees of divorce, adoption and grandparent rights.  Before joining Parsons Behle & Latimer, she served as a law clerk to the Hon. Ronald E. Nehring of the Utah Supreme Court and was an associate with Jones Waldo Holbrook & McDonough and Van Cott Bagley Cornwall & McCarthy.

Ms. Bean graduated from the University of Utah with a B.A. in political science and an M.S.W. in social work with an emphasis on health and mental health.  Prior to entering law school, Ms. Bean achieved her LCSW and worked with birth parents, the chronically mentally ill and the local crisis service.   She attended the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah .  During law school, she was a senior staff member of the Utah Law Review, president of the Women's Law Group, and a tutor for at-risk first year students.  Ms. Bean participated in the First Amendment Moot Court at Vanderbilt University and won best brief with her teammate.  She was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 2003.

Related Activities and Skills:

• Member, Utah State Bar, Family Law and Litigation Sections
• ABA Family Law and Litigation Sections

Awards and Recognition: 

• Legal Elite, Utah Business Magazine, 2007 - present
• Rising Stars, Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2009 - present