Melissa focuses her practice on restructuring and bankruptcy litigation, finance litigation, and other business disputes.
Dual qualified in both New York and England, Melissa has represented bondholder and lender groups in significant corporate bankruptcies and investor disputes around the world. Recent engagements include representing an ad hoc committee of Convertible Noteholders challenging Intelsat S.A.’s Chapter 11 plan and an ad hoc committee of holders of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA’s (FCC)’s Tranche B debt and notes in connection with FCC’s homologation application before the Spanish courts and related litigation in England. Her matters often span multiple jurisdictions, and her cases are regularly featured in Reorg Research. She also advises clients on litigation angles of distressed positions.
In the sovereign context, Melissa has created and executed litigation strategies concerning sovereign debt restructurings and defaults by various South American, European and African nations. She has experience enforcing US judgments against sovereigns in the English courts. Melissa has also acted against the Republic of Montenegro in a bilateral investment treaty claim, and advises on the litigation aspects of structuring investments under BITs.
Melissa also maintains an active pro bono practice. She was part of a team that supported a high profile shareholder action in Poland that dissuaded two Polish utilities from building a new coal power plant. She also recently represented pro bono a foreign national extradited to the U.S. on federal bank and wire fraud charges.