Practice Areas
- Employment Law
- Class Action Litigation
- Wage and Hour Litigation
- Trade Secret Litigation
- Complex Commercial Litigation
- White Collar Criminal Defense
- Appellate Litigation
Education
University of Arizona College of Law
- J.D. 2003, summa cum laude
- Order of the Coif
- Arizona Law Review, Executive Notes Editor
- Moot Court, First Place
University of Arizona
- B.A. 1998, magna cum laude, With Honors
Bar Admissions
- State Bar of California
- State Bar of Arizona
Court Admissions
- U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Central and Northern Districts of California; District of Columbia; Northern District of Illinois; Southern District of New York; Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Western District of Washington
Melissa A. Meister
Melissa Meister is an experienced trial and appellate litigator who has tried cases and argued appeals in state and federal courts across the country. She specializes in labor and employment counseling and litigation, including class action, wage and hour, and trade secrets matters. Melissa also has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation and white-collar defense matters. As a former Department of Justice Trial Attorney and Assistant United States Attorney, Melissa is not only a skilled litigator and appellate advocate but has extensive experience conducting internal investigations. Melissa has been named to Best Lawyers in America every year since 2021.
Melissa attended The University of Arizona for both college and law school. During law school, she won the school’s moot court competition, was an executive notes editor for the University of Arizona Law Review and took pride in winning first place in The University of Arizona’s flag football and women’s basketball intramural competitions. Melissa graduated law school summa cum laude and Order of the Coif before clerking for Judge William C. Canby on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was also a member of the Department of Justice’s Honors Attorney program, a legal writing professor at her alma mater, and her law review note was cited by the United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008).
- Successfully secured workplace violence restraining orders for corporate clients.
- Secured favorable settlements for clients in discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour matters.
- Secured affirmative summary judgment verdict in favor of commercial real estate client.
- Successfully defended client in anti-SLAPP motion brought in trade secrets matter.
- Represented alleged Capital One hacker in criminal wire fraud trial in Western District of Washington.
- Represented commercial landlord in breach of lease action brought by educational institution at trial.
- Secured complete dismissal of charges against client mid-trial in federal wire fraud trial in C.D. Cal.
- Obtained not guilty verdict on all counts in public corruption trial in California state court.
- Represented whistleblower in federal False Claims Act; secured over $60 million settlement in total.
- Obtained $10 million jury verdict for client who was molested at a public facility.
- Investigated corporate malfeasance at a public pension fund valued at more than $12 billion
- Sanchez v. Los Angeles Dep’t of Transp., 39 F. 4th 548 (9th Cir. 2022)
- United States v. Basham, 561 F.3d 302 (4th Cir. 2009)
- L-3 Commc’n’s Corp. v. OSI Sys., Inc., 283 Fed. App’x 830 (2d Cir. 2008).
- United States v. Thompson, 606 F. Supp. 3d 1058, 1066, and 1072 (W.D. Wash. 2022)
- Arizona ex rel. Brnovich v. Volkswagen AG, 193 F. Supp. 3d 1025 (D. Ariz. 2016)
- Verduzco v. Am. Valet, 377 P.3d 1016 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2016)
- Courtside, United States v. Williams (No. 06-694), 25-SUM, Comm. Law 27 (Summer 2007)
- Note, Murdering Innocence: The Constitutionality of Capital Child Rape Statutes, 45 Ariz. L. Rev. 197, 224 (2003).
- Best Lawyer in America (2021-Present)
- Member of the California Bar Association
- Member of the Arizona Bar Association
- Member of the AYSO Legal Board