Melvin Davis has over twenty years of legal and investing experience. He advises executives and entrepreneurs at every stage of the business life cycle, maintaining a corporate law practice that addresses matters and situations as diverse as entity formation, venture and angel investments, and commercial contracts, with special emphasis in the area of strategic transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, alliances, and joint ventures. With deep experience as an entrepreneur, executive, and investor, Melvin relates first-hand to the speed and complexity of the challenges and opportunities faced by technology companies, and he is a trusted lead attorney for the most complex transactions.
Melvin began his legal career as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In 2000, he launched his corporate practice, focused on mergers and acquisitions, at the Los Angeles firm of Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP followed by a stint as Deputy City Attorney in the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney. In 2005, Melvin began working in global asset management for a pair of Chapel Hill firms, Parish Capital Advisors and Onset Capital Partners. In 2009, he co-developed the Los Angeles-based investment vehicle, FreeMind Entertainment, for financing, producing, and distributing feature films and other media content. Since that time, Melvin has served as Managing Director and General Counsel for Trade Street Advisors, which provides financial advisory and analytical services to asset managers, issuers of debt and equity, as well as financial institutions; and Legal Counsel for the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, where he supported the Investment Management Division on investments and transactional matters related to public equity, hedge funds, real assets, real estate, private equity, venture capital, fixed income, and multi-strategy approaches.