Our Team

Collaboration is the through line at Melnick & Melnick, S.C. We value collaboration with our clients (cue Legal Subscriptions) and with each other because we know two heads are better than one. We have the experience and expertise to help small businesses grow legally. And what’s more we love what we do. We work hard to protect our clients’ brands, draft understandable and enforceable contracts, and resolve disputes. And we value client relationships—we eat at clients’ restaurants, visit our clients’ stores, order our clients’ products, and use their services. Being your lawyer and trusted advisor is personal to us. In You’ve Got Mail (in Stephanie’s rom com top 10), Meg Ryan said, “Whatever else anything is, it ought to start by being personal.” We completely agree.

Stephanie L. Melnick
Attorney

Stephanie, owner of Melnick & Melnick, S.C. and self-described law nerd (she attended former New Orleans mayor’s bribery and fraud trial while on vacation, for fun), has been practicing law for over 25 years. She spent quality time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison earning her undergraduate and law degrees. And, yes, UW’s homemade ice cream is the best. Stephanie loves taking a deep dive into clients’ businesses to learn what makes them tick. She also relishes a well-written (short and simple) contract and is pleased to draft and negotiate all kinds, including leases, operating agreements, and terms of service.

Protecting clients’ clever brands, logos, and slogans also gives Stephanie a charge (#legalnerd). She identifies what trademarks should and can be registered, and monitors and enforces registered trademarks. Writing cease and desist letters fills Stephanie’s heart with joy. Brand protection is so important to Stephanie that we host She Stands Tall® events about trademarks, registration and enforcement. She Stands Tall® is itself a registered trademark, of course.

In her spare time, Stephanie helps entrepreneurs do their thing, serving on the board of Local First Milwaukee and as a volunteer and supporter of WWBIC and BizStarts, organizations committed to entrepreneurs. The #legalnerd thing extends to writing, too. Stephanie has written for various publications, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Lawyer, and has presented about legal writing and women in the law, among other topics, at the State Bar of Wisconsin’s annual Solo & Small Firm Conference.

In her off time, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her husband and three teen and twenty-something daughters. She’s also a self-proclaimed rom com maven – reach out to compare top ten lists!

Attorney
She/Her
Phone: (262) 241-8900
Email | LinkedIn

Sarah K. Haas

Sarah K. Haas
Associate Attorney

Sarah joined Melnick & Melnick, S.C. in 2014 after graduating from Marquette University Law School. Her interest in trademark law started in law school where she was a Comments Editor of the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review. Sarah works with our clients in all business matters (check out our services) and has taken the no-legalese-in-contract pledge, too. Sarah is our trademark international class identification guru. She gets the seemingly wacky way the USPTO defines which goods and services fit in which classes and keeps it all straight – decorative magnets and crash test dummies are in the same class, FYI.

Sarah is a member of the Association for Women Lawyers and writes bios about interesting Wisconsin female lawyers for AWL’s newsletter (yep, she wrote about Stephanie). She serves as a judge for the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Golden Gavel award, and volunteers for Project Street Youth through the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Young Lawyer Division. In her off hours, Sarah spends time with her husband and young daughter enjoying Milwaukee’s many parks and coffee shops, cheering on the Milwaukee Bucks, and playing board games. Need a board game review or recommendation? Sarah’s got you covered.

Associate Attorney
She/Her
Phone: (262) 241-8900
Email | LinkedIn

Erin M. McGee

Erin M. McGee
Paralegal

Erin joined Melnick & Melnick, S.C. in 2018 and is happy to be back in Wisconsin following five years in Minneapolis. After beginning her paralegal career in product liability and pivoting to business law at Melnick & Melnick, S.C., Erin loves working with local and national small businesses and getting a close-up view of the services they provide and products they make. With her extensive experience in administrative support and case management, Erin keeps us organized and on our game (and we are grateful). She implements firm systems, coordinates client support and follow up, and manages the client intake process.

Erin received her Bachelor of Arts degree from UW-Milwaukee, and her paralegal certificate from St. Cloud University in 2014. Erin is the welcoming face you see at our She Stands Tall® events, which she coordinates. Erin is also our resident all-things-curly-hair expert. Need a product recommendation or information about a curly hair care technique? Ask Erin, she knows.

Paralegal
She/Her
Phone: (262) 241-8900
Email | LinkedIn