Our Team

He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Old Dominion University and his Law degree from Oklahoma City University. During college he served both as a Congressional aide and a legislative aide in the Virginia General Assembly. Joel is admitted to practice in Virginia and South Carolina, the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, South US District Court of South Carolina, the 4th Circuit US Court of Appeals, and has waived into several other states to handle cases across the United States.

He has served as Advisory Board member for Crossover Ministries and has been a Spokesman for United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Richmond Hero, an animal protection organization. He is also active with Caritas, the National Kidney Foundation of the Virginia’s, and the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. He also is a member of the North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS) and received the organization’s Founders Award (now known as the Robert Voogt Founders Award) for his dedication to advancement in the field of brain injury.

Joel was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to serve on the VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors. The Authority operates hospitals and related health care facilities including five Health Sciences Schools of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Joel married his wife, Jackey, in Williamsburg, Virginia. They are passionate about organizations that focus on organ donation and transplantation. In 2008, Joel had a kidney transplant. His donor was … his wife!

Education:

• Old Dominion University (B.A. Political Science 1982)
• Oklahoma City University Law School (J.D. 1986)

Bar Licenses:

• Admitted to Bar, Virginia and South Carolina
• Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia
• South US District Court of South Carolina, 1995
• US Court of Appeals (4^th Circuit)

Legal Recognition:

• The National College of Trial Advocacy, Diplomat of Trial Advocacy (highest level 400 hours)
• The American Trial Lawyers Association, 100 Virginia Trial Lawyers
• American Society of Legal Advocates, Top 100 Virginia Litigation Attorneys
• Rue Ratings, Best Attorney in America
• National Academy of Personal Injury Lawyers, Top Ten Attorney Award by
• National League of Renowned Attorneys, Top One Percent of Lawyers

Member:

• American Association of Justice
• AAJ Trucking Litigation Group
• Founding Member, North American Brain Injury Society
• Shula’s 48oz. Club

Legislative Experience:

• Former Congressional Legislative Aide (Congressman William G. Whitehurst)
• Former Virginia Legislative Aide (Delegate Melvin Spence)

After graduating first in her law school class, Melissa launched her career as a plaintiffs’ civil litigation attorney. Melissa has extensive trial experience, trying highly complex cases and securing substantial, favorable results for thousands of plaintiffs. In addition to her individual case work, Melissa has litigated more than a dozen nationwide mass tort proceedings, representing thousands of plaintiffs injured by dangerous and defective products.

Melissa’s courtroom work is rooted in a longstanding commitment to advocacy that began at age 17, when she wrote her first book. Nourishment, published by Health Communications in 2011, exposes the harmful effects of psychiatric medications on America’s youth and highlights the lack of meaningful resources for children with learning disabilities and neurological differences, particularly in academic environments.

Driven by her desire to better understand and serve vulnerable populations, Melissa earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of St. Thomas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA. She is a contributing author to the Not Alone series, published by Civitias Press, which offers guidance to individuals living with neurological differences. She has also authored sections for psychology and psychobiology textbooks used in universities worldwide. In 2012, Melissa appeared in the film Letters from Generation Rx, a documentary examining the detrimental impact of psychotropic medications on children and teenagers. She has also written numerous journal and magazine articles, conducted national and international radio and television interviews, and lectured across the country.

Outside of her professional life, Melissa is married and the mother of three children plus three horses, three dogs, and a cat. She is an avid equestrian and enjoys competing in her spare time.

Education

• South Texas College of Law Houston, Houston, Texas
  Juris Doctorate, 2016, 4.048 GPA, Salutatorian for spring and Valedictorian for summer, Summa Cum Laude.
  Honors: Dean’s Scholarship Award, Spring 2013; Dean’s Honor List, 2013-2016; Order of the Lytae, 2013-2016; Dean’s Spirit Award, 2016; CALI Awards – Contracts I, LRW I, Torts I, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Family Law, Agency & Partnership, Texas Pre-Trial Procedure, Consumer Transactions
  
• University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas
  Master of Arts in Psychology, Minor in Theology, 2012, 4.0 GPA, Summa Cum Laude, Honors Program Graduate

Bar Admissions

• State of Texas
• United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas
• United States Court of Federal Claims
• Fifth Circuit

Prior to serving in the General Assembly, Senator Bagby was a teacher, administrator, and school board member at his alma mater Henrico High School and served on the leadership team at the Peter Paul Development Center. There, Senator Bagby worked to create resources and programs to educate the child, engage the family and empower the community. 

As a Legislator and Chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, Senator Bagby has worked across the aisle and championed legislation focused on stopping the school-to-prison pipeline, creating affordable housing and championing criminal justice reforms, voting rights, environmental justice and consumer protections. Delegate Bagby earned his bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State University and Master of Education from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ryan’s commitment to public service is influenced by a grounded and humble upbringing. He quickly learned the value of hard work through his mother’s small business, Sandy’s Plants, at a young age. He went on to attend James Madison University before attaining his Juris Doctor degree at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law and The College of William and Mary.

Upon graduation, Ryan worked as a prosecutor for the Hanover County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, where he specialized in prosecuting domestic violence and family abuse offenders. His professional work on behalf of children grew into a personal commitment that resulted in the creation of the Hanover County Child Advocate Response Team.

Ryan began his legislative service in the House of Delegates in 2002 and went on to win a special election in 2006 for a vacant 4th Senate District Seat, where he currently serves. Ryan is Chairman of the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus. He is honored to be a member of the Judiciary, Privilege and Elections, Rehabilitation and Social Services and Rules Committee.

Ryan is active in our government and Attorney General Practice helping states in their recovery of benefits already paid. When he is not practicing law, working downtown at the Capitol, or visiting with constituents in the 4th District, Ryan spends his time with his wife Dr. Robyn McDougle and their daughter, Reagan.

Education

• James Madison University, B.S., 1993
• College of William and Mary School of Law, J.D., 1996

Admission Details

• 1996, Virginia
• 1996, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia

Associations & Memberships

• Virginia State Bar
• Hanover County Bar Associations
• Virginia State Bar

Leadership Roles

Melissa has been appointed to several leadership positions in national MDL litigations, including an appointment by Judge Saylor of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In Re: Zofran (Ondansetron) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2657 on behalf of children born with birth defects caused by the medication Zofran. Melissa’s knowledge relating to medical device litigation played a fundamental role in the litigation and global resolution of the Biomet metal-on-metal hip litigation. She was also been instrumental in the prosecution of the Zimmer NexGen knee litigation MDL, including the first bellwether trial.

Among her early successes, Melissa was an integral part to the successful resolution of the In re: Human Tissue Products Liability Litigation. Melissa represented individual victims who received infected cadaver bone and tissue that was infected and not properly screened. As part of that litigation, she also represented dozens of families against funeral homes for the mutilation and illegal harvesting of body parts from their deceased loved ones. For her efforts, Melissa was featured with shareholder Larry Cohan of Anapol Weiss in national news media regarding the Human Tissue litigation.

Mass Tort experience:

• In re: Zofran (Ondansetron) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2657;
• In re: Davol/ C.R. Bard Hernia Mesh, Case No. PC-2017-1929, (Providence/Bristol Cty. Sup. Ct);
• In re: Atrium Medical Corporation’s C—Qur Hernia Mesh Prod. Liability Lit.; MDL 2753;
• In re: Ethicon’s PHYSIOMESH Flexible Products Liability Litigation; MDL 2782
• In re: Bard IVC Filters Product Liability Litigation; MDL 2641;
• In re: Cook Medical, Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices and Prod. Liab. Lit.; MDL 2570;
• In re: Zimmer NexGen Knee Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2272;
• In re Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation; MDL No. 2327
• In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2197;
• In re: DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2244;
• In re: Biomet M2A Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2391;
• In re: Stryker Rejuvenate & ABG II Hip Implant Litigation, Ber-L-936-13; and
• In re: Human Tissue Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1763

Melissa has also passionately and successfully advocated for survivors of sexual assault against industries such as Uber, the Catholic Church, Michigan State University, USAG, and national fraternities. Melissa and her team take a trauma informed approach when advocating for survivors of sexual assault. She fights for her clients against industries deeply rooted in systems of abuse and mistreatment while ensuring her clients are not re-traumatized throughout the litigation process.

Melissa is an active member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and where she currently serves as the founding co-chair of the Sexual Assault Litigation Group. She also served as the Char-Elect for the New Lawyers Division (NLD). She served as a Board of Governor representative for the NLD from 2011 to 2013. She has also served on several committees such as Membership, PAC Task Force, Marketing and Practice Development, and AAJ Exchange. Melissa is also a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association.

Professional Recognition

• Named Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® every year since 2021.
• Named a Rising Star in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® every year since 2013.
• Selected for the state of New Jersey as The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40 members.
• Awarded the Above and Beyond Award for her hard work and dedication to the NLD in 2011.

Education and Background

• Law Degree, Widener University School of Law (2006)
• Bachelor’s degree, St. Joseph’s University (2003)

Melissa has lectured on topics including sexual assault litigation, medical devices, technology and the law and vaccine litigation to various state and national trial bars. She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well as before the United States Court of Federal Claims, United States District Courts of the District of New Jersey and the Eastern and Western Districts of Pennsylvania and the United States 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2011, Melissa was also admitted to the United States Supreme Court of America.

In her free time, Melissa enjoys going to a local farm to ride horses. She grew up competing in hunter jumper competitions. Melissa loves to explore her hometown with her daughter and husband, and of course her two ragdoll cats, Jax and Evie.

In 2021, Ms. Jauregui joined the National Child Protection Task Force, a registered 501(c)(3) dedicated to assisting law enforcement find missing and exploited children. In her role as Chief Legal Officer, Ms. Jauregui provided her legal expertise to law enforcement and prosecutors tackling difficult cases involving digital evidence across the globe. She also represented NCPTF in the End OSEAC Coalition, a U.S. advocacy coalition focused on improving U.S. government policies and programs pertaining to online sexual exploitation, abuse, and survivor support.

Before pursuing her legal career, Ms. Jauregui gained invaluable experience in the field of cybercrime and economic crime. She worked closely with the Cybercrime and Economic Crime Squads at the FBI Field Office in Boston throughout law school. While there, she developed a strong understanding of the complexities involved in digital investigations. Additionally, she had the privilege of working with the U.S. Attorney’s Cybercrime Unit in Boston for the duration of her third year of law school, further enhancing her knowledge and skills in the field.

Ms. Jauregui strongly believed in the importance of balancing her law enforcement experiences with survivor advocacy. She was a member of Northeastern University School of Law’s Domestic Violence Institute where she screened for survivors at local emergency rooms to provide supportive services. Ms. Jauregui also served as a domestic violence advocate at SafeLink, Massachusetts’s state domestic violence hotline.

Ms. Jauregui has received specialized training from prestigious institutions such as the National Computer Forensics Institute. Recognized as an authority in her field, she has delivered compelling presentations on conducting digital investigations and authenticating digital evidence to the Pennsylvania District Attorney Association, National Computer Crime Conference,  National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, Internet Crimes Against Children Conferences, and law enforcement agencies worldwide. Furthermore, her expertise was showcased as a participant in the esteemed FBI CART Moot Court in 2021.

In her free time, Ms. Jauregui enjoys weightlifting and participates in strongman competitions (MWW class). You can often find her outdoors gardening, hiking, or walking her dog, Jack. She also enjoys reading, cooking, and video games.

Board Positions:

• Clicksafe Intelligence (Chief Legal Officer)

Education:

• Northeastern University School of Law (J.D.)
• Middlebury College (B.A. English)

Bar Licenses:

• Pennsylvania
• Massachusetts