Melissa Crespo Selected as a 2023 MCCA Rising Star

Melissa Crespo has been selected as a 2023 Rising Star by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). In its annual list, MCCA honors diverse attorneys from across the nation whose accomplishments and dedication to the legal profession and to their community place them among those “attorneys to watch.”

Melissa is a partner in MoFo’s Washington, D.C. office who helps clients navigate a wide range of challenging privacy compliance and data security matters, with a focus on the health information and the healthcare sector. She regularly helps clients develop and implement privacy compliance programs and advises companies on managing risk in connection with cutting-edge technologies and data initiatives. Melissa has particular experience in advising clients on compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other laws governing the collection and use of medical and health information.  She advises clients on complex data breach response and represents clients in regulatory investigations relating to data breaches and privacy compliance.

In addition to her client-focused work, Melissa is dedicated to amplifying the voices of communities of color and increasing diversity within the firm. As an attorney of Puerto Rican and Filipinx descent, Melissa is particularly committed to the recruitment and retention of diverse attorneys and is active in the firm’s diversity recruiting and mentorship efforts. Melissa also serves as a mentor in the Working Parents at MoFo program, where offers other MoFo attorneys her insight and experience at the firm as a mom of two young children.

Melissa also maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on issues at the intersection of privacy and social justice, including regularly counseling a reproductive rights nonprofit on privacy matters, advising a nonprofit that creates technology to combat sexual assault on product development and privacy and security compliance, and assisting a voting rights organization with developing a privacy compliance program.

MCCA is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing the representation, retention, and promotion of attorneys from underrepresented groups in law firms and legal departments around the world. You can view Melissa’s profile on MCCA’s website.