Melissa M. Mikail

Melissa M. Mikail is an associate in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Century City office. She is a member of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Attorney Network and an active member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.

Areas of Practice

Melissa’s practice encompasses commercial litigation, entertainment, trust and estates, healthcare, and securities litigation.

She has litigated claims in both state and federal court involving breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, false advertising, breach of fiduciary duty, unlawful detainer, right of publicity, trademark and copyright disputes, and RICO claims. Her securities litigation practice includes shareholder derivative claims, class actions, SEC enforcement actions and internal investigations. Melissa has also represented clients in franchise litigation and negotiations.

Melissa has a breadth of experience managing the litigation process including filing and responding to complaints,  conducting discovery, motion practice, and judgment enforcement. She has successfully argued and obtained  terminating sanction award and summary judgment.

Pro Bono Experience

Melissa is an active member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and one of the coordinators of the firm’s pro bono adoption program who oversees dozens of Sheppard Mullin attorneys on their cases. Melissa’s first pro bono case as an attorney concluded in 2020 for a client who fled from her family following her high school graduation to avoid an agreement to sell her as a virgin to a wealthy family in her home country. Melissa helped this client file a name change petition under seal and then obtain a new Social Security number after three rejections, allowing her client to finally start a new life. Melissa handles a number of adoptions, asylum cases, and has filed an emergency motion to help a client who was forced into homelessness at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also handles financial elder abuse cases and criminal defense.

During law school, Melissa received the Dean’s Award for Community Leadership and the Ms. J.D. Fellowship. Melissa served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Geraldine S. Hines for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

As a student attorney with Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute, Melissa represented indigent clients in felony criminal matters and argued substantive motions in Massachusetts trial courts.  She also served as a student attorney for the International Refugee Assistance Project, where she provided legal representation to refugees seeking resettlement.

Honors

2020 Bob Gerber Pro Bono Award, which honors and recognizes Sheppard Mullin attorneys and staff who demonstrate a significant commitment to pro bono.

Articles

Corporate and Securities Law Blog Posts

• "SEC Commissioner Calls for a Brave New Approach to Corporate Penalties," March 18, 2021
• "Delaware Supreme Court Confirms That Federal Forum Provision Is Facially Valid, Reversing Court of Chancery," March 19, 2020
• "California Court of Appeal Enforces Delaware Forum Selection Bylaw," January 25, 2020
• "Delaware Court of Chancery Declares Ineffective Exclusive Federal Forum Provision for 1933 Act Claims," January 14, 2019 

Trade Secrets Law Blog Posts

• "Extraterritorial Application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," June 25, 2020
• "Members Of The Fashion and Retail Industry: Trade Secret Claims Are In Vogue These Days," July 13, 2020