Ms. Derish has represented clients with spinal cord and brain injuries as a result of medical negligence, personal injury and product liability claims. She has extensive experience in critical care of pediatric patients with cardiac, respiratory, hematologic diseases, cancer, infections, shaken baby syndrome, and pediatric brain injuries due to trauma, anoxia and hypoxemia.
Ms. Derish obtained her undergraduate degree of the University of California Berkeley and then attended medical school at the University of California San Diego. She completed her internship and residency in pediatrics at Stanford University, followed by a two year fellowship in critical care. Beginning in 1991, Melinda served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the division of critical care at Stanford, and eventually as Associate Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. She held this position until 1999.
In 2000, Ms. Derish began her legal studies at Boalt Hall , graduating in 2003. While there, she was the recipient of numerous honors, including the Prosser Award in advanced legal research and in Children and the Law, as well as the Moot Court Advocacy award.
In the medical area she has co-authored articles in various peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Pediatrics and Pediatric Pulmonology and chapters in medical textbooks. She is also the author of three chapters in Nelson’s Textbook of Pediatrics, 16th ed., published by W.B. Saunders (2000).
