Melissa Lessell, a partner in Deutsch Kerrigan's Professional Liability Department, has been appointed as Vice-Chair for the ABA Professional Liability Insurance General Committee for 2017-2018.

The Professional Liability Insurance Committee (“PLIC”) focuses on the liability of directors, officers, lawyers, accountants, agents, brokers, and other professionals--with special attention to the insurance and risk management issues associated with professional liability.

Melissa focuses on professional liability defense, the defense of disciplinary proceedings, complex commercial litigation and insurance coverage.  She advocates for her clients when faced with disciplinary actions, ethics investigations, malpractice, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims and lawsuits. She recently authored ‘Churn That Bill, Baby’: Problematic Emails in Legal Malpractice Casesfor the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct and regularly writes and presents on the subjects of ethics, legal malpractice and professional responsibility.  She currently serves the ABA Young Lawyer’s Division liaison to National Standing Committee on Lawyers Professional Liability, is immediate past vice-chair of the ABA YLD’s Ethics and Professionalism Committee and editor of its quarterly newsletter.

Deutsch Kerrigan is a premiere regional law firm concentrating in legal counseling and complex, high-stakes litigation. The firm is on the forefront of the industries it serves and prides itself on unwavering responsiveness to client needs.