Melissa is our resident senior paralegal and financial misconduct and investigations specialist. Melissa brings over two decades of experience in uncovering financial abuse, coercive control, and misconduct within personal and commercial structures. At Urban Family Lawyers, she plays a key role in complex property matters—tracing hidden assets, analysing trust and business entities, and supporting vulnerable clients through trauma-informed, investigative legal support.

Her unique background in financial services, construction, and behavioural investigation enables Urban Family Lawyers to offer in-house financial analysis and internal case audits—setting Urban Family Lawyers apart in matters where power, money, and control intersect.

Her work strengthens the firm’s ability to represent vulnerable parties, uncover hidden financial dynamics, and prepare matters for negotiation, mediation, or litigation with strategic depth.

Melissa is the author of The Heart of Hope, a candid first-person account of her experience with domestic abuse. Melissa opens up about her formative years as an immigrant to Australia and the situations which led her to motherhood as a teenager. Melissa shares her suffering of psychological, financial and physical abuse at the hands of her partner.