Melissa Cabrera is a Principal in McKool Smith’s New York office. Melissa focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation. Her practice includes actions in federal district courts, state courts, and the United States International Trade Commission (ITC).
Melissa is actively litigating an antitrust lawsuit against Volkswagen, representing Prevent USA, an automotive parts manufacturer. The suit, which is ongoing in the Eastern District of Texas, alleges that Volkswagen maintained an unlawful monopsony in the market for automotive component parts in violation of both the Sherman Act and Texas antitrust statutes. Recently, Melissa and her team succeeded in defeating a motion to dismiss and a motion to stay discovery. The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in 2024. Earlier this year, Melissa represented a technology company against circuit designers in multiple actions before the ITC. These lawsuits sought redress for patent infringement claims involving computer assisted circuit design technology and her adversaries were represented by a who’s who list of the nation’s most formidable firms. Melissa and the McKool Smith team successfully resolved a number of these lawsuits against the defendants. Last year, Melissa represented a biotechnology company in a contract dispute with the manufacturer of its groundbreaking vaccines. With Melissa’s guidance, the biotechnology company was able to exit the arrangement, avoid crippling delays and costly fees, and get back to its cutting-edge work.
Melissa also maintains an active pro bono practice. Through the Firm’s partnership with Her Justice, she has represented an individual in his efforts to gain U.S. citizenship and an indigent plaintiff seeking full custody of her child in a divorce action. Melissa is committed to the advancement of women and people of color in the legal profession and has been recognized as a 2021 Pathfinder by The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, which includes more than 350 law firm managing partners and corporate general counsels aiming to establish a truly diverse legal profession in the United States.
Prior to joining the firm, Melissa was a law clerk to the Honorable Paul E. Davison of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Before clerking, Melissa worked at a litigation boutique where she prosecuted antitrust, commodity manipulation, and securities fraud matters on behalf of institutional investors, health insurance companies, and individuals.
Melissa graduated from Cornell Law School in 2013 and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008.
Updated July 2023
