About Joanna
Joanna Meldrum combines technical training in engineering with a legal education. She earned both a B.S. and an M.S. in engineering from Queens University in Kingston, Canada, where she studied geological and environmental engineering. She later took up law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, completing a J.D. before practicing in California.
Her engineering background has shaped the practical approach she brings to legal matters. The combination of field-level technical knowledge and legal training allows her to parse complex environmental data and regulatory requirements. That dual perspective informs how she evaluates cases and advises clients, particularly on issues where geology, contamination and regulatory regimes intersect.
Meldrum is a partner at Monchamp Meldrum LLP. In that role she works on matters that involve environmental and energy law, regulatory compliance, and transactional issues touching on land use and development. Colleagues describe her as methodical; she breaks problems down into technical elements and legal questions. She also represents clients before state agencies and in administrative proceedings in California.
Outside the firm she maintains ties to legal education. She serves as an adjunct professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, where she teaches and mentors law students. Her courses and mentoring draw on both her engineering training and courtroom or agency experience, giving students a mix of technical and legal perspective.
Meldrum holds memberships in the San Francisco Bar Association and the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Law. She is also a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Those affiliations reflect an ongoing interest in how environmental standards, building practice and regulatory frameworks overlap.
Her practice is based in California and combines technical environmental knowledge with legal advocacy and counseling. She currently concentrates on environmental and energy-related regulatory, transactional and compliance matters.
