Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
Melissa N. Smart is a family law attorney, admitted to practice law in both the State of Texas and the State of California. After practicing family law in the San Francisco, California area for eight years, Melissa permanently relocated to Texas in 2019. After working at a family law firm in the Katy/Houston Texas area for five years, she and Ms. Kalen Malone founded Smart & Malone Family Law Group, PLLC.
Melissa’s practice is exclusively dedicated to family law, including divorce, child custody, property division including high net worth and complex property division cases, parentage / paternity, family violence, and modification and enforcement matters. She also drafts and reviews premarital agreements, postmarital agreements, and nonmarital cohabitation agreements. Ms. Smart has years of experience handling complex property issues and contested child custody cases. She takes a strategic approach to her cases and collaborates with other professionals when appropriate. Melissa understands that each client and family is unique and requires an attorney with the experience, knowledge, compassion, and tenacity to handle all types of issues that may arise.
Melissa is an active member of her family law communities, having served as the Chair of the Family Law Section of the San Mateo County Bar Association in 2017 and the Co-Chair in 2016. Melissa was named to the Northern California “Rising Star” list in Family Law by Super Lawyers on the basis of peer recognition and professional achievement for the years 2015 to 2020, a recognition given to only 2.5% of all Northern California lawyers. She was also named to the Texas Super Lawyers “Rising Star” list for the years 2021 and 2022.
In 2024, Ms. Smart became Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She is a member of the Texas Bar College Society of Legal Scholars. Ms. Smart is a Professional Mediator. Originally from Washington State, Melissa received her J.D. from Golden Gate University, School of Law, in San Francisco, California, graduating with a rank of first in her class.
