Walter Paul Roura

I am a native of New York City. The son of a Catalan father and a Puerto Rican mother. I am a graduate of Manhattan College in the Bronx and Fordham University Law School in Manhattan.

With my partner, Martin Melamed, I opened Roura & Melamed in 1980 as a full service law firm with an emphasis on serving the Hispanic community. Together with Robert Shannon, the firm expanded to become one of the largest immigration firms in the City, and now serves immigration clients at two offices in Manhattan.

During my legal career, I have become a pre-eminent trial lawyer amassing numerous multi-million dollar verdicts for many of the firms' clients. I have served as a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and as a member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Association of the Trial Lawyers of America, the Brooklyn Bar Association, the Metropolitan and Women's Bar Association and other legal groups. I am also a member of the Board of Education in Alpine, New Jersey, where I live with my family.

Roura & Melamed is a full service firm, specializing in immigration, litigation, medical malpractice, products liability, real estate and criminal matters.  Begun in 1980, is dedicated to serving the under-represented Hispanic community. From its inception, the firm was staffed with Spanish speaking personnel, including Walter Roura, whose cultural background is Catalan and Puerto Rican.

Roura & Melamed championed the rights of Hispanics who often suffered serious and permanent injuries working in the construction industry where Hispanics were frequently given the most dangerous jobs to perform. This representation continues today, with many of the firm's clients being South American, Central American and Island Hispanic workers injured while removing asbestos, working as laborers or performing demolition throughout the City. The children of minorities have also been of special interest to the firm. Roura & Melamed represented the victims of lead poisoning, abuse in the foster care system and general neglect and continues to view our children as our most precious resource.

While continuing to serve adult and child personal injury victims, Roura & Melamed expanded to provide greater services to Hispanics and others.  The firm has become one of the largest immigration firms in New York, representing sports personalities and business people seeking work visas, those seeking asylum in this country and immigrants from all over the world.  Of course, the primry focushas continued to be on immigrants from many of the Latin countries. 

Roura & Melamed is also staffed with litigation attorneys who have vast experience in criminal matters.  This has led to the representation of clients in criminal courts not only in the five borroughs of New York City, but in the outlying counties of the Metropolitan area as well.

Throughout its existence, Roura & Melamed has sought to create a comfortable feeling for clients. Having personal knowledge of nuestra cultura, the firm has adhered to its motto first adopted in 1980: "Representación Legal con Atención Personal".