Ms. Melissa M. Burghardt

Melissa Mackay Burghardt is senior counsel in WSHB’s Florida offices. She is experienced in all facets of civil litigation and has extensive experience in the areas of first and third party insurance, focusing on insurance coverage litigation, hurricane/windstorm and hail loss litigation, sinkhole litigation, and water loss litigation.

Prior to joining WSHB, Melissa worked nearly exclusively in the area of first party insurance defense, representing numerous property insurance carriers throughout the state of Florida. Melissa also has experience handling and defending medical malpractice actions and actions involving, hospitals, outpatient facilities, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. She also has appellate experience. In two such cases where Melissa prepared briefs on behalf of the Appellant, the lower court’s decisions were reversed and both cases were remanded, (See Spring Lake NC, LLC v. Holloway, 110 So.3d 916 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) and Emeritus Corp. v. Pasquariello, 95 So.3d 1009 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)).

Melissa graduated from Stetson University College of Law, where she was the recipient of the Victor O. Wehle Award for Trial Advocacy and the William F. Blews Award for pro bono service. She also received Book Awards for her Advanced Civil Trial Advocacy class and her Advanced Legal Research class. While attending law school, she was a judicial intern for the Honorable David A. Demers of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County, Florida. Melissa received her undergraduate degrees in journalism and fine art from Samford University.