Melissa S. Byer

MELISSA S. BYER, Calgary Family Law and Divorce Lawyer

Born in Toronto, Ontario, I graduated with an Honours Criminology Degree Cum Laude from the University of Ottawa in 1994, and a LLB from the University of Alberta in 1998.  I was called to the Alberta Bar in 1999.

I articled and practiced as a Corporate, Securities and Mergers and Acquisitions lawyer with an international law firm in Calgary, Alberta for many years before moving in-house as Senior Legal Counsel for a client, a multinational pipeline company headquartered in Calgary.

After children and my own marital breakdown, I decided to embark on my second legal career in Family Law.  I began working with Mincher Koeman in 2020 as a Senior Paralegal and was exposed to many aspects of Family and Indigenous Law. In this role, I have prepared initial drafts of orders and agreements, reviewed and organized complex financial disclosure, reviewed case law and legislation, generated child and spousal support calculations, reviewed and edited legal briefs, performed financial tracing and reconciliations of financial accounts and emotionally supported clients in mediation/arbitration and contested court matters.  As such, I have developed foundational knowledge in the Family Law area. Further, my previous work in the Corporate areas of law mentioned above, allows me to understand complex business valuation issues and tax consequences.

I have been actively involved in the work done by the firm with First Nations in the Child Welfare system and assisted with the legal drafting of a proposed statute and regulations.