Melina has provided coverage advice to insurers on claims ranging from small value auto claims to complex construction matters, professional malpractice, and school liability claims. She has litigated coverage disputes and insurer bad faith claims in both state and Federal courts in Massachusetts.
Melina’s work has included coverage disputes involving civil rights claims, inherent diminished value claims, and coverage for professional liability claims for lawyers, property managers, and school employees. She has also advised insurers on first-party property claims, mass casualty events, and on handling denials of coverage and recission of policies. Her approach looks at not only the presence or absence of coverage, but at the entire context of a claim: the risks and benefits to accepting or declining coverage where coverage is uncertain, and the potential for settlement in all phases of the claims process to protect insurers’ interests while making sure they fulfill their obligations to their insureds.
Outside her practice, Melina is an avid amateur musician, playing the flute and piccolo in the Blackstone Valley Community Concert Band and the bass flute in the band’s flute choir. She can also regularly be found at Worcester Red Sox games cheering on Red Sox future prospects and enjoying a Coney Island hot dog. She lives in Worcester with her husband and two cats.
