Melissa Lauritch is involved in a wide range of trial and appellate litigation matters, including products liability, professional liability, personal injury, intellectual property and insurance coverage. She is actively involved in litigation disputes; drafting legal motions, memoranda and pleadings; conducting depositions; working with expert witnesses; and preparing for trial. Ms. Lauritch was part of the defense team that obtained a unanimous verdict in favor of Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., in a lawsuit that arose out of a one-car, rollover accident in 2006, resulting in plaintiff’s ejection from a 1999 Volkswagen Jetta and subsequent paraplegia. Plaintiff alleged that she was ejected as a result of a defect in the vehicle’s restraint system. After a 3-week trial, the jury found that the plaintiff had not met her burden of establishing that she was wearing her seat belt at any time prior to the crash. Plaintiff sought $27 million in damages, but recovered $0.

Some of Ms Lauritch’s representative appellate matters include:

• The Selmer Company v. Selective Ins. Co., et al, 2011 WL 3925342 (Wis. Ct. App. Sept 8, 2011) – publication decision pending
• Goudy v. Yamaha Motor Corp, et al, 324 Wis. 2d 441, 782 N.W.2d 114 (Wis. Ct. App. 2010)
• Tammi v. Porsche Cars of North America, 320 Wis. 2d 45, 768 N.W.2d 783 (Wis. 2009)

Ms. Lauritch joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in August 2008. Previously she was a summer associate with the firm in 2007.

During law school, Ms. Lauritch served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Jon P. Wilcox of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

She was the recipient of a number of CALI Awards, including Advanced Legal Research: State Law (Fall 2005); Workshop: Quantitative Methods (Spring 2007); and Quantitative Methods in Law (Spring 2008). She was also a member of the Pro Bono Society and the American Bar Association, and a student volunteer in the Marquette Legal Clinic.

From 2003 to 2008, Ms. Lauritch was the Compliance Officer and Director of Research Compliance at Marquette University, where she worked extensively with federal regulations governing human subjects and animal research, as well as radiation safety and biosafety.

Prior to joining Marquette University, she worked for more than five years in the field of mechanical engineering for large equipment manufacturers including Beloit Corporation and Bucyrus International.

During her undergraduate years, she worked as an engineering co-op student with Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

Ms. Lauritch is a member of the American Bar Association and the Pro Bono Committee of the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association. Since July 2009 she has been a member of the Institutional Review Board at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Ms. Lauritch’s presentations include “The Red Flag Rules: Are You in Compliance?” a workshop sponsored by Hinshaw and Schenck Health Services Solutions, in Milwaukee and Appleton, Wisconsin, March 2009.

She is a co-author of “Minnesota Supreme Court Decision Impacts Liability Exposure,” published in the December 2009 issue of Legal Insights, a publication of Chartis Insurance.