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Practice Areas: Civil Litigation, Insurance Defense,e-Discovery

Additional Information: <P> <img width="200" src="http://www.psh.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=rExV7HOCMi0%3d&tabid=106&mid=517"> <P> Melissa is Co-Chair of the Litigation Practice Group. She represents insurance companies, financial institutions and corporations in commercial, business and regulatory litigation in the state and federal courts and before administrative agencies, with a focus on the defense of class actions and other complex matters alleging breach of fiduciary duty, violation of federal and state law, breach of contract and improper policies and practices. Melissa also specializes in contested trust and estate litigation in the probate and superior courts, on appeal and at mediation or arbitration, including will and trust contests, claims of fiduciary liability, disputes over distribution of trust assets and interpretation of instruments, trust reformations, accounting proceedings and claims concerning the exercise of discretionary powers. She further advises fiduciaries on trust administration strategies designed to avoid litigation. <P> A Providence native, Melissa joined PSH upon graduation from law school in 1992. In addition to managing the Firm’s largest practice group, she is a Mentor in the Firm’s Mentoring Program and co-founded WAVE (Women AdVocates for Enterprise), a PSH initiative designed to help women in business advance professionally. She is a frequent speaker on litigation risk management and best practices, insurance regulations and compliance and trust and estates disputes. <P> Melissa is President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. She has been actively involved in leadership of the Bar for more than a decade as a member of the Executive Committee and House of Delegates and for many years as Co-Chair of the Superior Court Bench/Bar Committee.

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Firm Members: Howard Merten Eugene Bernardo, II Travis McDermott