The Belmont University College of Law has announced the appointment of faculty members Melissa Alexander and Abbie DeBlasis.

Alexander (on the left in photo) joins BU as an assistant professor of law.

Previously, Alexander was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, where she focused on commercial litigation including intellectual property, health care, banking, environmental and entertainment law. In addition, she served on the executive counsel of the Litigation Section of the Tennessee Bar Association from 2007 to 2011.

Prior to practicing at Bradley Arant, Alexander clerked for the Honorable John G. Heyburn, II, on the United Stated District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. She graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, and from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy.

DeBlasis will serve as an assistant professor of legal practice.

DeBlasis was an associate in the Nashville office of Bradley Arant, where she focused her practice on regulatory and operational matters for health care clients. Before that, she served as a senior associate in the Charlotte, N.C., office of Winston & Strawn LLP, working in the areas of syndicated lending and corporate finance, and as an associate at Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman LLP (now K&L Gates LLP), practicing in the areas of capital markets and private equity.

DeBlasis received her Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University where she graduated magna cum laude. She then received her juris doctorate from Wake Forest University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude and Order of the Coif. She served as editor-in-chief of the Wake Forest Law Review.