Melissa L. Bernheim

Phone: (305) 374-5418
Fax: (305) 374-5428
E-mail: mbernheim@zarcolaw.com

Bank Of America Tower
Ste. 2700
100 Southeast 2nd Street
Miami, Florida 33131-2193

Melissa L. Bernheim was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She earned her undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1999 with a B.A. in Political Science and a Minor in Art History. Then, in 2002, Melissa earned her Juris Doctorate from the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington D.C., where she was a Marshall-Brennan Fellow and a member of the American University International Law Review.

Melissa’s prior experience with business reorganizations provides her with a rare perspective of the problems that the firm’s business and franchise clients face, and an eye for the efficient solutions they seek. While she has been with Zarco Einhorn Salkowski & Brito, P.A., Melissa has counseled numerous franchisees and area developers, in both large group and individual actions, to obtain successful resolutions of complex disputes with their franchisor, through various means including litigation, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation.

Before joining the firm, Melissa was an associate at the Miami office of a prominent international law firm where she gained wide-ranging experience in all aspects of bankruptcy law, including restructuring, out-of-court workouts and avoidance litigation. She has experience serving as general counsel to debtors, liquidating trustees and creditors committees.

Melissa has co-authored and published work for the American Bankruptcy Institute. She has also lectured for the National Business Institute on several occasions.

Melissa is a member of the American, Florida, Bankruptcy and Dade County Bar Associations. In addition, she is a member of the Business and Litigation Sections of the American Bar Association. Melissa is licensed to practice law in Florida, as well as before the Southern District of Florida.

Prior to attending law school, Melissa spent time in Belfast, Northern Ireland studying the Irish Peace Process and working on the reconciliation effort. Melissa also shadowed a barrister in the High Courts of England, where she studied first-hand, the English Common Law System. Melissa is conversational in Mandarin Chinese.