Melissa Karam Panchley graduated from BMC Durfee High School in 1991 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Human Development from Boston College in 1995.
After graduating from college, Melissa went to work at the Fall River Housing Authority for six years where she was a Youth Outreach Worker, and then the Elderly Services Coordinator. When she decided to start a family, she went to work for the family business at Karam Financial Group, where she could do bookkeeping work from home while she raised her children.
In 2009, Melissa received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
In 2011, Melissa transitioned into the role of Senior Property Manager for the adult communities managed by Karam Financial Group. In this role she is responsible for overseeing the management and physical plant of 304 apartment units on the Southcoast and Cape Cod, as well as 44 condominium units.
Melissa served on the Fall River School Committee from 2014-2017. During that time, she chaired the Finance Sub-Committee, as well as the Instructional Sub-Committee. She also served on the Superintendent search committee in 2016. After serving on the Fall River School Committee, she was the Treasurer for the New Durfee Ballot Action Committee, a ballot question committee in support of funding for a new Durfee High School.
Melissa has been involved in numerous organizations as a volunteer, such as the President of the Board of the Ninth Street Day Nursery and Vice President and Treasurer for the Friends of Saint Anne’s Hospital. She currently serves on the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce’s Sub-Committee on Education, the Board of the Greater Fall River United Way, and Treasurer of the Durfee Hilltopper Athletic Foundation.
Melissa was born and raised in Fall River and currently resides in the city with her husband, Josh and two sons, Thomas and Christopher.
Daniel L. Shores grew up in nearby Carver, Massachusetts and attended public school there. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. At UNH, Dan was the team leader of an award-winning senior project in which his team budgeted, designed, and built a launch and recovery system for a human-powered submarine with funding assistance from the Sea Grant Program.
After working in the private sector, Dan went on to attend law school and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, in Washington, DC. At Georgetown, Dan served on the Senior Editorial Board of The Georgetown Law Journal, Georgetown’s prestigious law review and concentrated his studies on intellectual property law. Dan worked during the entire time he attended law school and personally financed both his undergraduate and law school educations.
Upon graduation from law school, Dan worked as an attorney at the intellectual property boutique firm Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, PC and at the global law firm Latham & Watkins, LLP, both in Washington, DC. He also served as an executive officer of the esteemed Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, the nation's flagship Intellectual Property Inn of Court located at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC. Dan has served on panels to discuss IP issues and was selected as a “Super Lawyers” “Rising Star" for IP in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
After nearly 13 years in Washington, DC, Dan decided it was time to come home. He returned in 2013 and formed his own law practice. Later that year he ran for the United States Congress, in the Massachusetts 9th Congressional District, on a platform based on securing the future for the next generation.
Dan continues to build his law practice that specializes in patent law, including patent prosecution, due diligence, litigation, opinions and other complex IP counseling. He also continues to seek to be of service to his community and is honored to serve Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the capacity of Trustee.
Dan currently lives in Sandwich with his fiancée Lindsay and their two English Bulldogs Jarves and Rosie. In addition to practicing law and serving his community, Dan enjoys cooking, gardening, traveling, and fishing.
