VerifiedLawFirms editorial: What the firm does — The firm handles two kinds of legal work: family law and estate planning. Its home base is Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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About Melone Hatley
Melone Hatley, P.C. is a family law and estate planning firm serving clients across Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. The firm operates offices in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Reston, and Richmond in Virginia, along with Columbia, South Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, and Laredo in Texas.
Its family law work covers divorce, military divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, separation, and prenuptial agreements. The firm also handles divorce and custody cases for families with special needs children.
On the estate planning side, it prepares wills, trusts, pet trusts, and powers of attorney, and it takes on guardianships, conservatorships, and contested estate matters. The firm's leadership includes Rebecca Melone as Managing Partner, Charles D. Hatley as Chief Executive Officer, and Erik McCauley as Managing Attorney, working with a team of litigation, associate, and office managing attorneys. Clients can reach the firm at (800) 479-8124 to schedule a consultation.
Editor's Review
VerifiedLawFirms editorial
What the firm does
The firm handles two kinds of legal work: family law and estate planning. Its home base is Virginia Beach, Virginia. On the family side, it handles divorce, military divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, and separation. It also drafts prenuptial agreements. Families raising special needs children can bring divorce and custody matters here as well.
Divorce work runs across the range of family disputes. Child custody and child support often move together, since a custody arrangement shapes what support looks like. Spousal support and separation come up in the same cases. The firm groups these under one family law banner, which lets a single attorney see how the pieces connect for a client.
The estate planning side covers wills, trusts, pet trusts, and powers of attorney. A pet trust is a small but telling detail. It lets an owner set aside care for an animal after death. The firm also takes on guardianships and conservatorships, and it handles contested estate matters. In my opinion, that pairing with family law makes sense. Many family clients reach a point where they need a will or a trust, and one firm can carry both kinds of work.
Where the firm reaches
The firm works with clients in four states: Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. Its office network is wide. In Virginia it lists Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Reston, and Richmond. It lists Columbia in South Carolina and Tampa in Florida. In Texas it names Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, and Laredo.
That spread says something about how the firm operates. It runs local offices rather than one central headquarters. For a client, that can mean meeting an attorney who knows the courts in a given county. The firm also offers an initial consultation to people who are weighing a case. As a reviewer, I read the four-state footprint as a sign of steady growth rather than a firm limited to one market.
How the team is built
Rebecca Melone is the founder and Managing Partner. She started the firm in 2014 as a solo practitioner. It has since grown into a multi-office operation with more than two dozen attorneys. She earned her law degree from The University of Toledo College of Law in 2012.
Charles D. Hatley is the Chief Executive Officer. He earned his law degree from the same school in 2013. Before he led the firm, he managed offices for a national law firm and litigated family law cases in Virginia and Washington, D.C. He still handles family law matters such as divorce, child custody, and child support.
Erik McCauley is the Managing Attorney, and his practice focuses on family law. The leadership works with a roster of litigation attorneys, associate attorneys, and office managing attorneys. Those titles point to a firm with real structure. Someone leads each office, and the litigators carry the courtroom work.
Attorneys the site names
Several attorneys list their training in detail. Isaac Adams is a litigation attorney. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University, earned in 2007, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond, The T. C. Williams School of Law, in 2011. His earlier work centered on immigration matters at two other firms before he joined Melone Hatley.
Lauren Adkins is an Office Managing Attorney. She earned a political science degree from Wake Forest University in 2001 and a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2004. Early in her career she worked as an associate state attorney in Florida's Sixth Judicial Circuit, where she handled misdemeanor and felony trials. She later took litigation roles in private practice.
Christie Alvey is a litigation attorney who received her Juris Doctor from Ave Maria School of Law in 2012, and she practices from the Newport News office. She also keeps an association with the Law Offices of Christie Lynn Alvey in Yorktown, Virginia. Christa Adkins holds the title of Lead Litigator. The roster also names Jeff Ambrose, Ryan Ayala, Abigail Boettiger, and Jakob Braun among its litigation and associate attorneys.
What the record shows
Melone Hatley, P.C. grew from one lawyer in 2014 into a four-state family law and estate planning group. The attorney backgrounds vary. Some came from criminal trial work, others from immigration or private family practice. In my opinion, that mix can help a family law client, because divorce and custody cases often touch more than one area of law.
The firm keeps its work on people and families rather than business or corporate matters. Divorce, custody, support, and separation form the core. Wills, trusts, and powers of attorney fill out the estate side. For a client who wants both handled under one roof, that scope has a plain appeal.
The firm publishes a defined set of services, a named leadership team, and attorneys who say where they studied and what they did before. It does not claim case results or rankings, and this review adds none. For a directory built on evidence, a record you can check on the firm's own pages counts for a lot.
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Abigail BoettigerLitigation Attorney
Abigail HockettLitigation Attorney
Andrew PatzigLitigation Attorney
Andrew Patzig completed his undergraduate education at Radford University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and a Bachelor of Business Administration. He has held several roles in private practice, including owner of his own law firm and partner at Colaw Patzig & Howell, and he has served as a guardian ad litem in local courts. His work covers family law, divorce, child custody, juvenile matters, and criminal defense.
April JohnsonLead Litigator
Arian SalehOffice Managing Attorney
Brittany HudgensLitigation Attorney
Carly HartLitigation Attorney
Carly J. Hart is an attorney at Melone Hatley, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her practice includes family law and criminal defense, including DUI and DWI matters.
Cassidy MillardLitigation Attorney
Charles D. HatleyChief Executive Officer
Charles D. Hatley is the Chief Executive Officer of Melone Hatley P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He earned his law degree from The University of Toledo College of Law in 2013. Before leading Melone Hatley, he managed offices for a national law firm and litigated family law cases in Virginia and Washington, D.C. He handles family law matters including divorce, child custody, and child support, and hosts the firm's podcast on divorce and co-parenting topics.
Christa AdkinsLead Litigator
Christie AlveyLitigation Attorney
Christie Lynn Alvey received her Juris Doctor from Ave Maria School of Law in 2012. She practices at Melone Hatley, P.C. in Newport News, Virginia, and is also associated with the Law Offices of Christie Lynn Alvey in Yorktown, Virginia.
Darley R. TwiddyOffice Managing Attorney
Darley Twiddy earned a B.A. from James Madison University in 2009 and a J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2012. Their practice covers criminal law, special education, adoptions, family law, and estate planning. Matters handled include divorce, name changes, guardianship and conservatorship, wills, and special needs trusts.
Elizabeth MooreLitigation Attorney
EMErik McCauleyManaging Attorney
Erik W. McCauley is an attorney with Melone Hatley, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. His practice focuses on family law.
Floyd OliverLitigation Attorney
Floyd Oliver earned a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College in 2011 and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School in 2014. He practices in the Virginia Beach and Norfolk area of Virginia, handling family law matters such as child custody, child support, and adoption. He also handles criminal defense cases, including DUI and DWI, traffic offenses, and violent crime.
Gabriel SheltonLitigation Attorney
Isaac AdamsLitigation Attorney
Isaac Adams is a litigation attorney at Melone Hatley, P.C. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University in 2007 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond, The T. C. Williams School of Law in 2011. Before joining the firm, he served as a senior attorney at Dyer Immigration Law Group and as an attorney at Fayad Law, representing clients in immigration matters and gaining experience in workers' compensation and personal injury litigation. He handles family law matters including divorce, spousal support, property division, and child custody, and he speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Isahia LindsayAssociate Attorney
Jae ChangLitigation Attorney
Jakob BraunLitigation Attorney
Jeff AmbroseLitigation Attorney
Jeff SodomaEstate Planning Attorney
JSJeffrey SheloskeLitigation Attorney
John DooleyLitigation Attorney
Julia StitelyOffice Managing Attorney
Julia Stitely is an attorney with Melone Hatley, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her practice focuses on family law and estate planning and probate matters.
Laura ThompsonLitigation Attorney
Lauren AdkinsOffice Managing Attorney
Lauren Adkins is a family law attorney at Melone Hatley, P.C. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from Wake Forest University in 2001 and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2004. Earlier in her career she served as an associate state attorney in Florida's Sixth Judicial Circuit, where she handled misdemeanor and felony trial work, and she later held litigation roles in private practice, including at Cordell & Cordell. Her practice focuses on family law matters such as divorce, child custody disputes, and paternity cases.
Lelan KirkLitigation Attorney
Lelan C. Kirk is an attorney with Melone Hatley, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Their practice focuses on family law and estate planning and probate matters.
Lora Stuart ShorttLitigation Attorney
Lora Stuart Shortt earned a Bachelor of Arts from Marshall University in 1990 and a Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University in 2000. Her practice focuses on family law matters, including divorce and separation, child custody, child support, alimony, and adoption. She also handles guardianship and general litigation matters.
Miguel JefferyLitigation Attorney
Miguel Angel Jeffery is a lawyer who practices in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The available directory profiles do not specify his practice areas or educational background.
Mike PilusoLead Litigator
Michael Joseph Piluso is an attorney based in Chesapeake, Virginia. He practices at the Law Offices of Michael Joseph Piluso. The profile does not specify his practice areas.
Rebecca MeloneManaging Partner
Rebecca Melone is the Founder, Owner, and Managing Partner of Melone Hatley, P.C., a family law and estate planning firm. She launched the firm in 2014 as a solo practitioner, and it has since grown into a multi-office operation with more than two dozen attorneys serving clients in Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas. She graduated from The University of Toledo College of Law in 2012. Her practice focuses on family law, divorce and separation, estate planning, and probate matters.
Roman DoddLitigation Attorney
Ryan AyalaAssociate Attorney
Sebastiana BradstreetLitigation Attorney
Sebastiana Bradstreet holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Olivet Nazarene University and a Juris Doctor from Liberty University School of Law. She practices at The Merna Law Group in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where her work centers on consumer bankruptcy. She handles Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases and also assists clients with estate planning and uncontested divorce matters.
Seth CraigLitigation Attorney
Sloan LambertLitigation Attorney
Valerie Cortinas FisherLitigation Attorney
Valerie C. Fisher is an attorney with Melone Hatley, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her listed practice areas include personal injury and criminal defense.
Valerie WilsonLitigation Attorney
Victoria TerryLitigation Attorney
William VazquezSenior Associate Attorney
William T. Vazquez is an attorney with Melone Hatley, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He practices in the area of family law.
William WilkinsonOffice Managing Attorney
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