With over a decade of experience in litigation consulting, Melissa has leveraged her background in both psychology and art to create compelling, persuasive graphics that equally educate jurors and advance client’s case themes. She is a strategic thinker with a proficiency in helping people understand complex ideas.
Prior to joining Impact, Melissa had a hybrid role at a litigation consulting firm, acting as both a graphics and jury consultant. Her experience includes assisting clients with the development of their trial strategy by facilitating focus groups and mock trial research, as well as providing consultation and strategic recommendations on openings and summations.
Melissa has consulted on a variety of high-stakes civil and criminal matters, including labor and employment, whistleblower, class action, insurance, securities litigation, insider trading, patent infringement, environmental, and more. Notably, she had the pleasure of leading the Impact team on an environmental cost recovery lawsuit in cooperation with the Morgan Lewis trial team, resulting in a unanimous $133 million jury verdict on behalf of the client. The verdict was also recognized by the Daily Journal as one of the Top Verdicts of 2022. More recently, Melissa was a proud member of the Impact teams that aided New York Attorney General Letitia James in her trial against Donald Trump, as well as her trial against the National Rifle Association. Before her career in this field, Melissa worked in the non-profit arts sector, organizing traveling art exhibitions and coordinating accompanying catalogues.
Melissa holds Master’s degrees in art history/curatorial studies from Columbia University and forensic psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in psychology and painting from Washington University in St. Louis.
In her free time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her family, having dance parties with her daughter and husband, practicing yoga, and watching old seasons of Top Chef.
Education:
Columbia University (M.A. – Modern Art and Curatorial Studies)
John Jay College of Criminal Justice (M.A. – Forensic Psychology)
Washington University in St. Louis (B.F.A. – Painting and Psychology)
