Brian Melendez is a partner and litigator in the Minneapolis office of Faegre Baker Daniels. He focuses his practice on business litigation and consumer finance litigation.

Brian has represented Brunswick, DuPont, Guidant, Target, SuperAmerica and others in contractual disputes ranging from defending claims for simple breach of contract and business torts to negotiating software contracts to prosecuting covenants not to compete. He has also defended clients in consumer law matters, especially consumer credit, in more than three dozen federal and state jurisdictions. Brian has litigated cases under many federal and state consumer protection laws, including the Consumer Credit Protection Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Minnesota Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act and the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Pro Bono

Honors

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association, House of Delegates (1997–2004)
• American Bar Association, Presidential Appointments Committee (2003–04)
• American Bar Foundation, fellow
• ABA Young Lawyers Division, chair (2000–01)
• ABA Section of Business Law, council (2001–03)
• American Institute of Parliamentarians
• Central Minnesota Legal Services, vice-president (2003–05)
• Harvard Law School, Class of 1990, secretary
• Hennepin County Bar Association, president (2001–02)
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, board of trustees
• Minnesota State Bar Association, president (2007–08) 
• Minnesota State Bar Association, Court Rules & Administration Committee, chair (1998–2001)
• National Association of Parliamentarians
• Volunteer Lawyers Network, Ltd., board of directors (1996–2006)
• Supreme Court of Minnesota, Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice (2000–04)

Civic Activities

• Books for Africa (Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative), advisory board
• Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, state chair (2005-11)
• Minneapolis Charter Commission (2003–06)
• Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, chair (1999–2005)
• Fair Vote Minnesota, board of directors (2002–05)
• Harvard Divinity School Alumni/Alumnae Association, president (2001–03)
• Minnesota Citizens Commission for the Preservation of an Impartial Judiciary (The "Quie Commission")
• Minnesota Distance Running Association
• Westminister Presbyterian Church

Legal Updates

• Black's Law Dictionary, Contributing Editor (8^th ed. 2004, 9^th ed. 2009)