Melissa focuses her practice on general litigation, which encompasses a wide array of areas, including premises liability, construction liability, property damage and motor vehicle accident claims. She defends property owners, management companies, construction companies and individuals in personal injury cases. Melissa has extensive litigation experience and has achieved outright dismissals of claims and cross-claims brought by parties through motion practice.
Prior to focusing on general litigation, Melissa practiced matrimonial law throughout New York. She also represented children in abuse, neglect and custody matters.
Practices
- Obtained summary judgment for property owners against claims that an exterior staircase located on our client’s property was defective and negligently maintained; the Court agreed with our defense that our clients did not possess either actual or constructive notice of any purported stair defect, and Plaintiff did not establish our clients were negligent or that a defect existed at the time of the alleged incident, and all claims against our client were dismissed outright.
- Obtained summary judgment on the issue of contractual indemnification in New York County Supreme Court after we established our client, a general contractor, was not negligent for Plaintiff’s alleged fall from a ladder while performing construction work and was entitled to third-party contractual indemnification claims against its subcontractor.
- Obtained dismissal of all claims brought by Plaintiff who was involved in a motor vehicle accident with our client, the individual who operated the vehicle Plaintiff was in during the collision; the Court agreed with our arguments that Plaintiff did not meet the necessary threshold requirements of Insurance Law Section 5102(d).
Education
- Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, JD, 2013
- The Pennsylvania State University, BA, English, 2010
Admissions
- New York
Professional Memberships
Languages
- English