Melissa was chosen for membership by the Buffalo Business First Leadership Trust Selection Committee due to her experience, leadership and influence in the local business landscape and beyond. Melissa began her practice defending workers’ compensation <a href="/about/melissa-a-day/">insurance carriers</a> and self-insured employers since shortly after she was admitted to the Bar in 1997. She has over 20 years of general workers’ compensation defense experience, and has extensive appellate experience at various appellate divisions, including successfully arguing <a href="https://thelomad.com/getmad.today/wp-contentwww.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2007/2007_07498.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Burns v. Varialle, 9 N.Y.3d 207, 879 N.E.2d 140, 849 N.Y.S.2d 1.</a> Melissa is extremely well versed in workers’ compensation subrogation issues and general liability defense and also frequently lectures on and blogs about recent developments in Workers’ Compensation Law. She is the Founder, Owner and Moderator of the Linkedin Group, New York Workers’ Compensation Forum which currently boasts nearly 1,600 members. She is a member of several legal professional memberships, including, New York Self Insured Association, Buffalo Clams Association, Self-Insured Association of the Niagara Frontier and Notre Dame Club of Buffalo/Western NY. Melissa’s degrees are from Canisius College where she receiv