Melody Jolly was recently honored as a member of the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leaders in the Law Class of 2022. North Carolina Lawyers Weekly presents this peer-nominated award annually to honor legal professionals licensed and practicing law in the state of North Carolina who have gone above and beyond in their profession and their community. These honorees represent the most influential individuals within the state’s legal community.
Jolly, a Partner in Cranfill Sumner LLP’s Wilmington office, leads Cranfill Sumner’s Professional Liability Practice Group as well as the Firm’s Women’s Initiative. Her practice focuses on the representation of a wide array of non-medical professionals including attorneys, design professionals, real estate professionals, CPAs, and others in defense of claims, lawsuits, licensing board complaints, and grievances. Since 2009, Jolly has held various leadership roles on the Defense Research Institute (DRI)’s Professional Liability Committee, recently serving two terms as its Chair from 2019-2021. She has served on the Lawyers Mutual Eastern Carolina Community Board since being appointed to that role in 2013; she also serves in leadership roles in several other national legal organizations and is a frequent speaker and author on professional liability and risk management topics. Jolly has served on nonprofit boards in her local community, including currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Coastal Pop Warner Cowboys Football and Cheerleading Association Board of Directors and as the President of her homeowners’ association.
She received her bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The awards were presented during a ceremony on April 14.
