Melissa D. Carter was born and raised in Washington and received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in 1996. She then attended law school in Boston, Massachusetts and received her Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1999.

While in law school, Ms. Carter worked as a legal advocate for its Battered Women’s Clinic and assisted hundreds of victims of domestic violence to obtain and enforce restraining orders against their abusers. During her time in Boston, Ms. Carter was selected for the prestigious fellowship with the Suffolk Public Interest Law Program, which involved providing legal representation, counseling and advocacy to indigent and underprivileged individuals at the Justice Resource Institute’s Health Care Center. She also held positions at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, where she researched, investigated and prosecuted discrimination cases involving public housing, education and employment.

Prior to joining Adler♦Giersch PS, Ms. Carter followed her calling for courtroom advocacy by representing insurance companies and at-fault parties for over twelve years in claims involving complex traumatic injury, insurance contracts and commercial insurance disputes. During this time, Ms. Carter conducted and completed well over 30 jury trials to verdict in state and federal courtrooms in Washington and Massachusetts. Her most recent trials involved traumatic brain injury, wrongful death and insurance bad faith.

Ms. Carter has been an invited speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars for attorneys sponsored by the Washington State Bar Association, the National Business Institute, the King County Bar Association, the Snohomish County Bar Association and the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. Carter has also presented at numerous seminars to insurers, insurance administrators and risk management business leaders concerning trends in personal law, including insurance bad faith law in Washington following the passage of the Insurance Fair Claims Act in 2007. She is acknowledged by attorneys and judges as an aggressive and compassionate litigator who achieves successful results for her clients.

Sensing an alarming trend in the insurance industry that favors a mounting imbalance of fairness between insurance companies and injured individuals, Ms. Carter decided she could no longer represent insurers and at-fault parties. Now at Adler ♦ Giersch PS, Ms. Carter has joined her two professional passions of zealous trial advocacy and ensuring that those harmed by others have a level playing field in their recovery of medical, physical and economic losses. Ms. Carter is licensed to practice law in federal court and in every jurisdiction within the state of Washington. She is also an appointed arbitrator for the Superior Courts for King and Snohomish Counties.

Ms. Carter is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, Washington State Association for Justice (Eagle member), American Association of Justice, the Brain Injury Association of Washington and the King County Bar Association.

She resides in Seattle with her husband and their three children. In her spare time, she enjoys long distance running, live music shows and endlessly pursuing that perfect glass of Cabernet.

Public Interest Law Grant Fellow: JRI Health Law Institute Suffolk University Public Interest Law Grant Fellow 1998-1999

Million Dollar Advocate Forum Life Member

Washington State Association for Justice Eagle Member

1. Understanding Legal and Insurance Concepts and Terms Personal Injury Resources (ISBN 978-1-59571-788-7) Word Association Press (2012)

1. “Live Demonstration on Effectively Preparing and Presenting Chiropractic Testimony at Deposition” Whiplash, Spinal Trauma, and the Personal Injury Case 2012
2. “Common Mistakes Plaintiff’s Attorneys Make in the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Case” Handling the Traumatic Brain Injury Case 2012
3. “How Insurers Attack Health Care Records and Deny Patient Claims” Effectively Managing Your Personal Injury Cases, Insurers and Attorneys 2012
4. “Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitrations” ADR 2011
5. “Legal Implications and Electronic Data Recorders” Pacific Claims Executive Association Annual Conference 2008
6. “Put Your Best Foot Forward in Trial” Gaining the Best Settlement in Auto Injury Cases 2007
7. “Avoid Trial With Settlement Negotiations and Methods” Fourth Annual Gaining the Best Settlement in Auto Injury Cases 2007
8. “Cover All the Bases in Pre-Trial Preparation” Third Annual Gaining the Best Settlement in Auto Injury Cases 2006
9. “Avoid Trial With Settlement Negotiations and Methods” Gaining the Best Settlement in Auto Injury Cases 2006