Mel C. Orchard III
Mel Orchard received his undergraduate finance degree from Washington State University in 1988 and his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1992, where he also served as student body president. After a law clerk position with the 9th Judicial District Court, Mel spent over 10 years specializing in civil trial litigation until early 2005 when he was asked to join Gerry Spence's team of litigators. Mel has been a partner in The Spence Law Firm since 2005.
During his trial career, Mel has been a part of record breaking civil jury verdicts in both Wyoming ($2.25 million dollar mild traumatic brain injury case) and Arizona ($11 million dollar trucking wrongful death), and has tried over 30 major cases in state and federal courts throughout the West. And because the majority of cases end up in settlement prior to trial or during trial, Mel has negotiated hundreds of cases totaling more than 100 million dollars for injured clients and families who have lost a loved one to wrongful death.
Aside from litigation in general, Mel's areas of practice include truck and auto collisions, product liability, insurance company bad faith, commercial/contract, medical malpractice, civil rights and drug litigation. Mel is a board member and recent past president of the Wyoming Trial Lawyer's Association and a current Governor to the American Association of Justice, where he also earned "advocate" status.
To further develop his trial skills, Mel attended his partner Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer College (TLC) in 2008 for a month of intense trial training. As a TLC graduate, Mel joined his fellow partners as graduates, staff members and teachers of the most prestigious and most demanding trial college in the world. Gerry has indeed placed his trust, and his fingerprints, upon every one of his partners that were chosen specifically by him to this close-knit team of trial lawyers.
In addition to the work that directly benefits clients, throughout his career, Mel has created and presented educational materials to various attorney and non-attorney groups including lawyers, hospital risk assessment personnel, educators and administrators and even insurance adjusters. Mel also volunteers his time to several non-profit boards, and not for profit organizations, including Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming (LAW), Habitat for Humanity, Community Learning Center and he either coaches or has coached various sports teams in Teton County (Varsity Basketball and Football) including programs that involve his two children, Owen and Oliver. Mel and his wife Brandie are active in their church and as a family devote time to both enjoying and preserving the outdoor environment of the mountain west.
Tammy is Mel's paralegal.
