Education

  • B.S., Truman State University, 1981
  • Master of Public Affairs, University of Missouri – Columbia, 1983 (with honors)
  • J.D., St. Louis University, 1993 (Cum Laude)
  • Washington University School of Law, Civil Mediation Training, 2004
  • Association of Attorney Mediators – St. Louis Chapter mediation updates (monthly)
  • ADR Court-Certified Neutrals Seminar January 2014
  • Association of Attorney Mediators Training – Mastering the Art of Mediation Advocacy, October 2014
  • ADR Court-Certified Neutrals Seminar, January 2016
  • Advanced Title IX training 2020 (Title IX Solutions, LLC)

Melvin D. Kennedy

Accomplishments

Mr. Kennedy has been admitted to practice law in Missouri and Illinois since 1993. Mr. Kennedy has practiced in the areas of bankruptcy/creditors’ rights, criminal defense, and employment discrimination.  Mr. Kennedy has represented both employers and employees in employment discrimination cases.  For fourteen (14) years he worked as a Senior Trial Attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  Mr. Kennedy is certified to mediate cases for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and the Circuit Courts for the Twenty-First and Twenty-Second Judicial Circuits in Missouri. In addition, Mr. Kennedy mediates charges of employment discrimination for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Arbitrates disputes for the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB); Arbitrates disputes involving vehicles covered under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and applicable state lemon laws, administered through class action settlement administrators; Mediates police/citizen disputes, neighbor/neighbor disputes, and facilitates community discussions, pursuant to the Consent Decree entered into between the U.S. Department of Justice and The City of Ferguson, following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown and ensuing protests. Additionally, Mr. Kennedy teaches a mediation course at Washington University School of Law and Saint Louis University’s School of Law.

Affiliations

  • Association of Attorney-Mediators (both St. Louis and National Chapters)
  • Community Mediation Services of St. Louis
  • Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis – ADR Committee