Melissa Lessell is a partner at Deutsch Kerrigan in New Orleans, LA. She represents clients facing professional liability and complex commercial litigation matters. She helps professionals navigate through disciplinary actions, ethics investigations, malpractice, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims and lawsuits.
Melissa is devoted to professional liability defense, defending attorneys, accountants, insurance agents and brokers, title agents, real estate agents and various medical professionals. During her experience as an AV-rated partner in the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Professional Liability Department, she has successfully represented professionals in the courtroom, arbitrations, and panel proceedings and before various disciplinary boards.
In addition to handling director and officers’ and derivative actions, she helps her commercial clients defend against claims of premises liability, personal injury and other types of tort and insurance matters, including coverage matters. She regularly represents commercial transportation carriers, including 18 wheeler companies, defend against claims and litigation. Moreover, through acting as national coverage counsel for an insurer who represented multiple suppliers, distributors and installers of Chinese drywall, Melissa has considerable experience handling Multi-District Litigation and class actions.
She earned her Juris Doctorate from Tulane University Law School, where she graduated cum laude and received a certification in mediation. While attending Tulane, she was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee, Moot Court Board and was an oralist for the Jessup International Moot Court team. She was awarded the school’s Student Government and Service Award for her service to the school as President of the Student Bar Association.
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