Melissa L. English
Melissa English is an equity partner and chairs the firm’s Complex Litigation Group. Dedicated to representing plaintiffs, Melissa specializes in federal class action litigation with a focus in financial services and institutional fraud. Throughout her career Melissa has focused on complex litigation and has substantial advocacy and trial experience in state, federal and appellate courts in states, districts and circuits across the country.
Melissa has been appointed as class counsel in matters filed across the country and has certified more than a dozen national classes. The Complex Litigation Group she chairs has recovered millions for tens of thousands of consumers across the country. Melissa has championed the use of advanced electronic tools in the investigation and litigation of consumer fraud claims, and she brings to her practice market research and product development experience with some of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies. Melissa is also a certified focus group moderator.
Rhodes College, B.A. (1992)
University of Georgia, M.A. (1997)
University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude (2004)
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
United States District Court for the District of Maryland
United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
Maryland State Bar Association, 2015
State Bar of North Carolina, 2011
State Bar of Arizona, 2004-2013
Baltimore County Bar Association, 2015
Melissa earned several awards for oral advocacy including the William T. Birmingham Trial Advocacy Award and the F. Britton Burns Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy.. Her class on Corporate Responsibility and Business Ethics has been recognized with the Bloomberg Businessweek Teaching Award.
Passionate about plants, trees and growing food, Melissa is committed to those community organizations that work to protect and grow Baltimore’s green and blue spaces, including the Friends of Herring Run Park and Blue Water Baltimore. As an undergraduate, Melissa was a National Collegiate Mock Trial national champion and she remains active as a judge for the National Collegiate Mock Trial Association.
Somerville v. West Town Bank & Trust, a national federal class action involving a kickback and RICO mail fraud scheme impacting thousands of borrowers on close to 2,000 VA and FHA refinance transactions. Melissa represented the Plaintiffs and was court appointed Class Counsel. The case resulted in the certification of the first RICO class in the District of Maryland in a decade, with Plaintiffs recovering $10 million for the class.
Palombaro v. Emery Federal Credit Union, a national federal class action involving a kickback scheme resulting in the first RESPA class certified in the Sixth Circuit. Melissa represented the Plaintiffs who recovered $10 million for the class of credit union borrowers harmed by the kickback scheme. In granting final approval of the settlement, the presiding judge commended the investigation and litigation of the case praising it as more thorough than the FBI.
Teamsters Local 677 Health Services & Insurance Plan v Friedman, a shareholder derivative action brought by pension funds harmed by a failed media merger. Melissa served as local counsel for the Teamsters, one of several institutional stockholders harmed by the merger. In addition to a financial recovery, the plaintiffs collected a significant governance change to protect all shareholders from similar harm in the future. Before joining SGS, Melissa served on the local counsel team representing the Louisiana Municipal Police Employee’s Retirement System in a shareholder derivative action challenging the proposed merger between Duke and Progress Energy companies.
Rodriguez v. Ameriquest, in this mortgage fraud and RICO action against a sub-prime mortgage lender, Melissa, before joining SGS, was on the trial and litigation team that represented the Plaintiffs. After a two week trial in Pima County, Arizona, Superior Court, the jury awarded both compensatory and $1 million in punitive damages.