About
Melissa focuses her practice on business formation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions, other business transactions, and estate planning. She serves as outside general counsel for many small businesses, providing guidance in employment, real estate, contract, and other business matters. Melissa has particular experience with family-owned businesses, hotels, apartment complexes, and bars/restaurants.
Education
- Wayne State University Law School, cum laude, 2005
- University of Michigan, B.A. in Economics, Minor in French and Francophone Studies, 2002
Bar Admissions
- All Michigan Courts
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- US district Court for the Western District of Michigan
- US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
Community Involvement
- City of Birmingham Board of Ethics
- Impact 100 Oakland County Member
- Chair, Primerus Women Lawyers' Section Executive Committee
- Primerus Developing Partners’ Section Executive Committee
- Primerus Community Service Board
- ICLE Business Law Advisory Board Member (2015-2021)
- Dearborn Area Chamber, Board of Directors & Board Chair 2015
- Former Varsity Girls Lacrosse Assistant Coach (former JV Head Coach), Birmingham Seaholm and Groves High Schools 2004-2016
- Girl Scout Leader (2021-present)
Honors
- Michigan SuperLawyers, 2024 and 2025
- Michigan Lawyers' Weekly Go-To Business Lawyers, 2022
- Michigan Lawyers' Weekly "Women in the Law" Honoree, 2021
- Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star 2010-2020
- Leadership Detroit Class XXXIV
- Michigan Lawyer's Weekly Up & Coming Lawyer, 2014
- YWCA of Western Wayne County Volunteer of the Year, 2010
- YWCA of Western Wayne County Young Professional of the Year, 2008
- Senior Articles Editor and Assistant Editor of the Wayne Law Review
- Internship with the Honorable Nancy G. Edmunds, US District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan
Publications & Presentations
- ICLE Book Contributor, Employment Law for Michigan Employers, Third Edition (Chapter on Closing or Selling the Business), 2022-2025
- Primerus Webinar: Force Majeure and Business Interruption, 2020
- ICLE Webinar: Wind down a Closely Held Business, 2019
- ICLE Webinar: Commerical Lease Drafting and Negotiation, 2019
- DMCVB: Marijuana in the Workplace, 2019
- Private client management staff - HR and Personnel Manual review, 2019
- DMCVB: HR Issues for the Hospitality Industry, 2018
- DMCVB: "Is It Legal?" - 2017
- ICLE Webinar: Negotiating and Drafting Promissory Notes, 2016
Representative Matters
- Represented seller in $16M sale of hotel portfolio
- Represented buyer in $3.5M acquisition of business
- Represented seller in $2M sale of business
- Represented seller in $7M sale of hotel
- Represented seller in $10M sale of commercial real estate
- Represented seller in $7M sale of commercial real estate
- Represented buyer in $1.4M acquisition of business line from publicly-traded company
