She was a law clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

For more than twenty years, Melissa has advised corporate and individual clients on a wide variety of issues. She also has had considerable success litigating, arbitrating, and mediating business disputes in various types of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, before administrative agencies, as well as in traditional litigation in state and federal courts. In her administrative law practice, Melissa has represented clients in licensing matters in numerous Rhode Island municipalities. Melissa also has experience in addressing land use issues before the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the Coastal Resources Management Commission. Melissa regularly appears before the public utility commissions in Rhode Island and several other states to represent her clients’ positions in utility rate cases.

Melissa taught business law at Providence College and has authored several articles. She is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, the Michigan Bar Association and the Federal Bench Bar Committee. She serves as one of two representatives of the public on the RI State Properties Committee. An avid rower, she is a member of the Board of Directors of East Bay Rowing, Inc. and serves as a member of the Barrington Heritage Hall of Fame Committee.

Melissa is a recipient of the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating. In 2023, she was named a Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Lawyer of the Year. Melissa also has been recognized as a Rhode Island Super Lawyer (Litigation) and received the Rhode Island Monthly Professional Excellence Law Award.