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Mary Anne Mellow
Mary Anne Mellow
Staff Report//June 15, 2026//
Shareholder, Sandberg Phoenix
Clayton
Mary Anne Mellow has practiced for 40 years, becoming the first female partner at her firm five years after joining. She was later selected as local counsel alongside a national firm defending a talc supplier against multiple lawsuits in Illinois and Missouri alleging that baby powder caused ovarian cancer — a role specifically structured around lead female litigators at both levels. The litigation spanned four years and multiple trials, requiring her to master the underlying science and medicine while working alongside excellent attorneys from across the country.
She has also defended the personal injury litigation of one longstanding client in Missouri and Illinois since 1988, a relationship that has deepened over the decades into mutual respect and friendship.
Mellow identifies business development as the single most important career skill, giving lawyers control over their own path. She advises young attorneys to embrace technology rather than resist it and said it “should be viewed as a multiplier of judgment, efficiency, and value.”
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