Melissa Hill practices criminal and civil litigation, including civil rights, and family law, in state and federal courts. She received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1984. She also attended law school at UNC, where she was admitted to the Order of the Coif, was on the North Carolina Law Review and received her J.D. with high honors in 1987. Ms. Hill joined Tharrington Smith in 1987 and is the author of Tennessee v. Garner – The Use of Deadly Force to  Arrest as an Unreasonable Search and Seizure, 65 N.C.L. Rev. 155 (1986);  and Branch Banking & Trust Company v. Wright – Creditors  Rights to Entireties Property Awarded to Nondebtor Spouse Upon Divorce,  64 N.C.L. Rev. 1471 (1986). She is active in Bar Association activities and has served as an officer on the Criminal Justice Council of the N.C. Bar Association. 

Ms. Hill was born and raised in Asheville, NC, where her father practiced law for over fifty years.   She is married and has one daughter, Eliza Jade.  She loves mountain biking in the Pisgah National Forest and the other parts of western and eastern North Carolina, and playing tennis.  In her free time, she also enjoys playing the guitar and piano, acquiring new musical tastes, gardening, cooking, and traveling.