Melanie Lister

Melanie Lister is an assistant public defender with the Juvenile Division of the Travis County Public Defender’s Office in Austin. She received her B.S. from Cornell University in 2008 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2013. Lister held a variety of other positions related to children and families before she transitioned to juvenile defense. Prior to law school, she was a teacher at an alternative school outside of New Orleans. Following law school, Lister represented parents and children in abuse and neglect proceedings and Child in Need of Services cases. She also has worked as a guardian ad litem in abuse and neglect proceedings. Since joining what was then known as the Travis County Juvenile Public Defender Office, she has served as an adjunct professor in the Juvenile Justice Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. She is also a certified trainer with the Gault Center’s Youth Defender and Advocacy Program and is an alum of the center’s JTIP (now known as YDAP) Summer Academy.

Lister is passionate about ensuring that her representation is not only driven by her clients but also empowers them.  She is always searching for creative ways to bridge the gaps between community organizations, schools, and courtroom advocates in hopes that one day she may work herself out of a job.