Rebecca M. Black - Green, OH

Rebecca is a lifelong resident of northeast Ohio and graduated from the University of Akron School of Law. She has been serving clients since 2012 and joined Melissa Graham-Hurd’s firm in 2014 to help clients facing criminal charges in addition to the family law cases Melissa Graham-Hurd has long championed. After three years with the firm, she left to pursue her interest in criminal law as an Assistant Prosecutor for the City of Akron in Akron Municipal Court and thereafter practiced in general civil litigation.

She has been a recipient of the Super Lawyers’ Magazine’s Rising Star Award every year since 2020, which is an honor awarded to only 2.5% of attorneys under 40 years old state-wide.

Rebecca returned to Melissa Graham-Hurd & Associates, LLC in 2023 when the opportunity arose because her true passion is for helping people and especially families who find themselves in domestic relations and/or juvenile court.

For the past three years, she has been a member of the Ohio Bar College, which only admits attorneys who complete double the required amount of continuing legal education every year. She is also currently serving on the Board of Directors for Project Learn of Summit County, which provides education services that include GED classes, ESOL classes, and workforce readiness training to adults in Summit County.

Rebecca formerly served on the Investigative Subcommittee for the Attorney Grievance Committee with the Akron Bar Association from 2018 to 2025. From June 2016 to June 2017, she was a member of the highly selective Leadership Academy and the chair of the New Lawyer’s Section of the Akron Bar Association, where she has been a very active member since 2009. Rebecca also has received 12 hours of basic mediation training.

In addition, Rebecca served as a volunteer CASA/GAL (Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian Ad Litem) from 2012 to 2017, through the Summit County Juvenile Court, where she advocated for the best interests of abused, neglected, and/or dependent children of Summit County.

Rebecca is truly an attorney for families in crisis, and she is known for the same kind of compassionate straight talk and tireless advocacy that Attorney Melissa Graham-Hurd has always dedicated to her clients. When not at the office or in court with clients, Rebecca enjoys hiking in the great outdoors and cooking with her husband.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

• • Family Law
  • Civil Protection Orders
  • Divorce/Dissolutions
  • Post-decree motions
  • Child custody/parenting time
  • Child support
  • Spousal Support
  • Juvenile Law
  • Legal Custody
  • Grandparents’ rights cases
  • Step-parent adoptions
  • Trials
  • Appeals

BAR ADMISSIONS

• • Ohio 2012
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio Court 2013

EDUCATION

• • University of Akron School of Law, Akron, Ohio
  • Juris Doctor – 2012
  • Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
  • B.S. in journalism–2009
  • B.A. in English–2009

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

• • Akron Bar Association
  • Member of Family Law Section
  • Member of Women in Law Section
  • Past member of the Investigative Subcommittee of the Attorney Grievance Committee, 2018 – 2025
  • Past Chair of New Lawyer’s Section 2016 – 2017
  • Leadership Academy participant 2016 – 2017
  • Past Member of the Lawyer’s Assistance Committee
  • Ohio State Bar Association
  • Ohio Bar College, 2014 – 2016; 2023 to present