About me
Melissa Damian was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida on January 10, 2022. Judge Damian filled the magistrate judgeship position vacated upon the retirement of Chief United States Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan.
Judge Damian earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1990 and her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1995. Judge Damian is a South Florida native and grew up in Coral Gables.
From 2010 until taking the bench, Judge Damian practiced law in private practice, specializing in civil appeals and complex federal litigation, most recently as Of Counsel to the law firm Damian & Valori, Culmo Trial Partners in Miami. From 1999 to 2010, Judge Damian was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, most recently serving in the National Security Section where she earned the Attorney General’s Award for her work on matters of national security. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Damian was an associate with the law firm Kenny Nachwalter in Miami, where she specialized in securities litigation. From 1995 to 1997, Judge Damian served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ursula Ungaro, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida.