Melanie Hess focuses her practice on high-stakes business disputes, complex litigation, and white collar investigations.
Ms. Hess began her legal career as a litigation associate at Latham & Watkins LLP where she worked in the Litigation and Trial Department on a variety of civil cases, including antitrust, securities, and environmental litigation. She also maintained a robust pro bono practice.
While in law school, Ms. Hess worked as an intern in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID). She also served as the notes editor for the Notre Dame Law Review and as the executive articles editor for the inaugural volume of the Notre Dame Journal on Engineering Technologies.
Experience
Secured a complete defense verdict after trial for The Boeing Company in a trade secret, breach of contract, and tortious interference case. In addition to defeating Zunum’s claims, Boeing is entitled to $12 million from Zunum on Boeing’s cross claim (see “Hueston Hennigan persuades US judge to reverse $72M verdict against Boeing,” Daily Journal; “Seattle judge overturns $72M jury verdict, clears Boeing in Zunum lawsuit,” Seattle Times; “Boeing Scraps Electric Jet Co.’s $72M Trade Secrets Trial Win,” Law360; “Boeing convinces US judge to overturn $72 mln trade-secrets verdict,” Reuters; “Boeing Ducks $72 Million Verdict as Judge Finds No Trade Secrets,” Bloomberg Law).
Represented GoDaddy.com in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Entri, a tech company that developed a product called Entri Connect, which Entri claims can automate the process of configuring a website’s DNS settings to connect with various third-party applications, such as Mailchimp or Square. Entri alleged that, starting in 2023, GoDaddy forbade and technically disabled use of Entri Connect (and similar products) in connection with domain names registered by GoDaddy in violation of the antitrust laws, and it also asserted that GoDaddy tortiously interfered with Entri’s existing and prospective business relationships by prohibiting use of Entri Connect. GoDaddy disputed Entri’s allegations and filed counterclaims. The parties settled with neither party paying any money (see “GoDaddy Escapes Antitrust Litigation After Competitor Drops Case,” Bloomberg).
Secured a complete victory for Amazon.com and Starbucks Corporation in novel class action litigation alleging the failure to warn customers that they were being monitored by “biometric technology” without providing notice. After Hueston Hennigan obtained a series of wins including a motion to dismiss that significantly narrowed the claims, the plaintiffs dismissed the entire case with prejudice (see “Amazon and Starbucks Win Full Dismissal of Biometric Data Privacy Case in Washington Federal Court,” Law.com; “Amazon, Starbucks Win Motion to Dismiss Most Claims in Biometric Data Privacy Case,” Law.com; “Amazon, Starbucks face WA class-action lawsuit over customer data,” The Seattle Times; “NYC Starbucks, Amazon Patrons File Suit Over Biometric Scans,” Bloomberg Law).
Representing Amazon.com against a historic FTC lawsuit targeting its Prime Membership (see “F.T.C. Accuses Amazon of Tricking Users Into Subscribing to Prime,” The New York Times; “Amazon Says FTC Prime Subscription Suit Gets Ahead Of Law,” Law360).
Representing Ruthia He in a first-of-its-kind telehealth prosecution.
Representing FAT Brands in parallel criminal and SEC cases involving violations of securities laws.
Representing Southern California Edison in litigation arising out of the 2017 Thomas Fire.