Melissa Brill represents commercial general liability, professional liability, excess/umbrella liability, and property insurers in complex litigation throughout the country, including bad faith disputes. She counsels and represents insurers in many industries, and with regard to a wide variety of coverage issues, including construction defect, builder’s risk, product liability, additional insured status, and priority of coverage. Melissa also represents clients in commercial litigation and appeals.
Melissa was recently elected as a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC). The FDCC comprises U.S. and international peer-reviewed leaders of the civil defense, corporate legal, and insurance industries. Membership in the FDCC is limited and by nomination only, and admission requires a rigorous peer review.
Melissa has served on the Board of Directors of Homesite Insurance Company of New York and several non-profits, Young Leadership Counsel, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Park Slope Afterschool Center Corps (PSACC). Melissa has been named to Cozen O’Connor’s Pro Bono Honor Roll every year for the past 12 years for her representation of pro bono clients. Her pro bono representations include enforcing women’s rights under the Violence Against Women Act, seeking asylum in the United States on behalf of unaccompanied minors, and obtaining reparations for Holocaust victims.
Melissa regularly presents on various topics including excess and umbrella insurance, negotiation strategies, role of coverage counsel, issues impacting multi-national claims handling, construction defect coverage, and more.
Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies and Japanese Language from Pennsylvania State University in 1991. Melissa earned her law degree, with honors, from Temple University – Beasley School of Law in 1995. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Edward Biester of Pennsylvania.