Melissa Hoffman

Melissa is an associate in the firm’s Insurance + Reinsurance section. Melissa’s practice involves litigation, arbitration, and counseling on a wide range of commercial disputes, with an emphasis on complex insurance coverage and reinsurance disputes. In addition to insurance and reinsurance disputes, she has experience with general commercial business litigation and defending against class action claims.

Melissa has represented clients in reinsurance disputes involving life, health, and property/casualty insurance and reinsurance issues. These issues include, but are not limited to, disputes involving yearly renewable term reinsurance premiums, sunset and commutation clauses, underwriting and claims-handling practices, and general coverage. Melissa also has experience representing clients in a wide range of insurance coverage disputes involving environmental and asbestos damages allocations.

• Achieved a significant victory for a reinsurer in an arbitration concerning its contractual right to increase nonguaranteed reinsurance premiums and secured a final award worth $115 million.
• Representing reinsurers in disputes involving their obligations and their ability to increase premiums on books of yearly renewable term life insurance.
• Represented insurers in long-tail coverage disputes involving liability for asbestos-related bodily injury and progressive environmental contamination.

• Best Lawyers in America® Ones to Watch: Insurance Law (2026)