Melissa L. Hjalmquist

Associate Attorney

Contact Info

   915.546.8277
  915.546-8333
  E-Mail Melissa Hjalmquist
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Areas of Concentration

Real Estate
Corporate & Securities

Education

American University Washington College of Law
Juris Doctor
cum laude

American University School of International Service
Master of Arts – International Relations

University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Arts – Political Science
Bachelor of Arts – Anthropology

Admissions & Qualifications

State Bar of Texas

State Bar of New Mexico

State Bar of New York

State Bar of Washington

United States District Court
Southern District of New York
Eastern District of New York


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Melissa Hjalmquist is a Texas and New Mexico-licensed attorney who focuses her practice on real estate and corporate governance. She assists clients in the acquisition, financing, leasing, and development of improved and unimproved real property throughout the Southwest United States.

Melissa Hjalmquist has experience in commercial, farm and ranch, and residential real estate transactions. Ms. Hjalmquist also advises clients on corporate governance, due diligence, and other general legal matters.

Prior to joining ScottHulse, Melissa Hjalmquist served as corporate and litigation counsel for a financial investment firm managing real estate portfolios.

Ms. Hjalmquist earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence and Master of Arts in International Relations from the American University in Washington, DC, where she graduated cum laude. While in law school, she served as a judicial extern for the Honorable G. Michael Harvey at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Ms. Hjalmquist earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ms. Hjalmquist is a member of the Texas Bar College, an honorary society of legal scholars who champion advanced legal education and professional ethics within the legal profession. She serves as Vice Chair of the Emerging Issues and Specialty Leases Committee of the Real Property Trust & Estate Section of the American Bar Association. She is a graduate of Leadership El Paso Class 44, sponsored by the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. She is also a board member of the West Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Downtown Rotary Club of El Paso, and the El Paso Young Lawyers’ Association.


Presentations

Emerging Voices Panel: Recent Scholarship on the Theory and Practice of International Law, Int’l L. Ass’n – Am. Branch Annual Conference (Fordham U. School of Law, New York 2018). Discussed economic risk of unitizing cross-border oil and gas reservoirs given increased use of trade sanctions by the international community.

Restrictive Covenants: Creation, Enforcement, and Defenses to Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants, Boarder CIE – Greater El Paso Association of Realtors (El Paso, Texas, 2023).

Residential Lease Agreements and Texas Property Code Chapter 92, Lawyer Q&A, El Paso Apartment Association (El Paso, Texas, 2023).

Starbucks, Apple, Amazon, Google and a New Marshall in Town: Avoiding the surge of unions and NLRB claims in a new era, ScottHulse Labor & Employment Seminar (El Paso, Texas, 2023).

Understanding Utility Easements and Rights-of-Way in New Mexico, Half Moon Seminars. (CLE Presentation, New Mexico, 2022).

Publications

Common Tenant Claims and Defenses against Landlords and How to Avoid Them, El Paso Apartment Association’s Journal (2022).

Qatar’s Maritime Quagmire: Analysis of South Pars/North Dome Unitization Risk Amidst the Gulf Rift and the Dubious Prospects of Unitization as State Obligation, 25 ILSA J. of Int’l & Comp. L. 329 (2019).

Politically Exempt: Analysis of Turkey’s Fethullah Gülen Extradition Request and U.S. Federal Court Application of the Political Offense Exception, 10 Am. U. Nat’l Security L. Brief 34 (2019).

Melissa L. Martin et al., War Crimes Research Off. – Am. U. Washington C. of L., Case-Based Reparations at the Central African Republic’s Special Criminal Court (2019).

Melissa L. Martin & Martijn Vermeersch, Syria Just. & Accountability Ctr., Return Is A Dream: Options for Post-Conflict Property Restitution in Syria (2018).

Common Tenant Claims and Defenses In Landlord Disputes – and How to Avoid Them, El Paso Apartment Assoc. J. (2022).

Organizations

American Bar Association – Vice Chair

Texas Bar College

Leadership El Paso Class 44 – Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce

Texas Young Lawyers Association

El Paso Bar Association

West Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross – Board member