Our people

Melissa is a member of the Life Sciences Health Industry Group and focuses her practice on pharmaceutical products liability, medical device products liability, consumer class action lawsuits, financial services litigation and e-discovery issues. Melissa also serves as the Firm’s Director of Complex Litigation Electronic Discovery. She has extensive experience counseling clients on best practices since the enactment of the new Federal Rules in December 2006 concerning e-discovery, including designing, implementing and memorializing defensible electronic discovery and document production strategies and preparing preservation policies, legal holds and internal protocols. Melissa also manages large document projects for diverse clients. 

Melissa has significant trial experience, acting as second chair in seven diet drug cases tried to verdict in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in two grouped trials and conducting numerous trials in New Jersey state court on behalf of pro bono clients seeking a Final Restraining Order in domestic violence situations. She also has significant experience in deposing plaintiffs and medical providers on behalf of pharmaceutical clients in mass tort litigation.

She maintains an active pro bono practice and serves as the firm's liaison to HomeFront, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the needs of the homeless. As the firm’s New Jersey representative of the firm-wide Pro Bono Committee, Melissa has spoken before the New Jersey State Bar Association regarding Reed Smith’s involvement in pro bono activities and is a member of the Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee.

Speeches / Presentations

• "Teleseminar Presentation: Revised 2009 PhRMA Code, Reed Smith, September 2008"
• "E-Document Preservation: To Preserve or Not to Preserve," Reed Smith University, July 15
• “Can I get those privileged documents back?”, Reed Smith Client Bulletin, June 2008
• New Jersey Pro Bono Conference –Moderator, “Breaking into the World of Pro Bono,” May 2008
• “Preparation for Rule 16 Conference”, training program, Reed Smith, April 2008
• “Products Liability 101: Discovering Both Sides of the Story”, training program, Reed Smith, March 2008
• “Ensuring Internal Compliance: effective Sales Force Training and Monitoring Programs to Reduce Liability”, presented at the Sixth Annual Off-Label Usage Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• "Master Class on Complying With Document Presentation and E-Discovery Dislosures and Preparation for the Rule 26(f) Meet and Confer Conference" (panelist), presented at ACI Drug & Medical Device Conference in New York
• "Minimizing the Risks of Liability for Off-Label Usage" with Barbara Binis, presented at the Third Annual Off-Label Usage Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• “Enforcement of Arbitration Clauses in New Jersey,” presented at an annual meeting of the New Jersey State Bar in Atlantic City
• “The Court of Public Opinion: How To Wage The War,” presented at a Drug & Medical Device Litigation Conference in New York

Experience

Legal Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania

Professional Affiliations

• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Mercer County Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)

Interests

She resides in Yardley, Pennsylvania with her husband, Glenn and children Tyler and Delaney.