Title: Partner
Firm: Barclay Damon
Age: 39
Melissa Bennett first experienced public finance as a student studying French at the State University of New York at Geneseo.
In her sophomore year, she began an internship with Albany-based law firm Girvin & Ferlazzo, where she helped with assembling transcripts and photocopying documents under the tutelage of Connie Cahill, now managing partner at Barclay Damon, who became instrumental in Melissa's career arc.
After teaching English in France after graduation from Geneseo, she decided to return to the U.S., contacting her old boss upon arrival.
Cahill had just begun a new gig at what was then Hiscock & Barclay, and without a law degree, Bennett worked for the firm as a legal assistant for just over two years before she began law school at the University of Buffalo School of Law.
"I ended up coming back to the firm after law school and the rest is history," Melissa said, returning to what is now Barclay Damon in Albany, New York, in 2012.
"I wasn't planning on being a lawyer, but public finance I found to be very interesting," she said. "Working with school districts and municipalities, and as I progressed, getting to work more with state agencies and doing bigger projects was a way to use the skills that I had toward big tangible improvements in our community."
Melissa was promoted to partner in 2020.
"Having Connie as a mentor and a sponsor was just so instrumental in helping me learn and grow as a lawyer and in the public finance field," Melissa said. "We've now got a number of newer associates on our team and so it's been exciting to be able to now take on the role of mentor and help train people that are just coming into the public finance field."
