Melissa Ryan Clark, Business Attorney in Chicago, Illinois

Melissa Ryan Clark has spent her entire career working to hold large corporations accountable for violations of consumer, privacy, and financial laws and has recovered millions of dollars for plaintiffs in the U.S. and internationally.

Melissa has substantial experience representing victims of privacy and data breaches as well as individuals and businesses in consumer and financial cases, serving as a vital asset throughout the class action and complex litigation process. Joining the FeganScott team in 2020, Melissa is one of the key attorneys at the firm’s New York office.

In addition to her class action work, Melissa has experience representing businesses and municipalities in complex commercial litigation. She has represented an alternative energy company in an accounting negligence case against PricewaterhouseCoopers, a foreign investment fund in an action against Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, and municipalities in Fair Housing Act litigation against Wells Fargo, HSBC, and Bank of America

Melissa has also been recognized for her experience and skill in spearheading discovery in complex matters. She was part of the court-appointed teams that oversaw offensive discovery and ESI issues in In re Apple, Inc. Device Performance Litigation (N.D. Cal.) and In re Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Breach Litigation (N.D. Ga.). In early 2020, Legal 500 named her a “Next Generation Partner” in eDiscovery. Melissa was one of only three lawyers — and the only plaintiffs’ attorney — to receive this honor.

Prior to joining FeganScott, Melissa was a partner at a boutique litigation firm in New York and at Milberg, a national class action firm. Before that, she was an associate for a securities litigation firm in its New York, NY and New Orleans, LA offices.

Melissa earned her Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School, where she was on the Moot Court Board and served as a Senior Fellow for Legal Research and Writing. She also attended UC Berkeley Law School where she was on the California Law Review and received High Honors in Securities and Class Action Litigation. She earned her Bachelor of Science in International Affairs from Florida State University, where she was a Florida Academic Scholar and completed the “Degree in Three” program.

During law school, Melissa completed judicial externships with the Honorable Jerry Brown, Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Louisiana and the Honorable Jay C. Zainey of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. She was also a faculty writing instructor at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business and completed a summer clerkship with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

Benchmark Litigation has named Melissa to the “40 & Under Hot List.” She was recognized by The Legal 500 as a “Next Generation Partner” and “Recommended Lawyer” in Dispute Resolution: e-Discovery. In 2020, Melissa was recognized in Crain’s New York Business: Notable Women in Law. And she has been named to the New York Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list each year for ten consecutive years.

Stats:

• 13 years representing plaintiffs in class actions and complex cases

• Millions of dollars recovered for consumers, investors, and businesses

• 10+ years advocating for civics education as part of the New York Bar Association’s Law Youth & Citizenship Committee

• Born in Kansas and has lived in 8 other states