May
2022
Melicent B. Thompson Elected to Managing Partner of Gfeller Laurie LLP
Gfeller Laurie LLP is pleased to announce that litigation partner Melicent B. Thompson has been elected as the firm’s Managing Partner.
“Melicent will elevate the firm’s future as a strategic, decisive and resilient leader. She possesses a rare combination of essential qualities including the ability to thoughtfully synthesize ideas and facts, make good judgments and act, even where difficult, with a balance of empathy and resolve. We are excited to have Melicent lead the firm into the next generation,” said Founding Partner Robert D. Laurie.
Founded 13 years ago, Gfeller Laurie is focused on strategic planning and is currently executing a three- to five-year strategy to expand the firm’s personnel and footprint which now includes 22 attorneys and a team of nine administrators in six offices in the Northeast. An important part of the plan is to identify and develop new leaders and implement a management structure that allows the firm to improve its competitive position in the legal marketplace and capitalize on growth opportunities, without compromising its culture and standards for excellent client service.
“This leadership position is an important step in the process that will help the firm meet its goals and continue to prosper,” added Founding Partner Charles F. Gfeller.
Melicent joined the firm in January 2020, bringing with her 25 years of litigation experience in Connecticut and Georgia. Her insurance coverage practice encompasses all areas of coverage advice in both the first- and third- party contexts and related litigation services, including declaratory judgment actions, defense of bad faith claims and reinsurance matters. She also has broad litigation experience in state and federal courts in the areas of business disputes, professional and executive liability claims, defense of educational and financial institutions, employment law and general liability issues. Melicent practiced law in the Atlanta office of an international law firm until returning to Connecticut to raise her family and grow her practice.
Active in the community, Melicent is pro bono General Counsel to Gifts of Love, an Avon, Connecticut-based non-profit that serves the basic needs of the working poor in the Greater Hartford, Connecticut area. She also serves on Bay Path University’s Business Advisory Council. Melicent is an active member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute and the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance.