Melisa Brower is a partner and key leader for the firm’s Compensation, Employment, Pensions and Governance practice.  Through nearly a decade of complex, cross border employment and governance counsel for high priority global clients, she has improved the way clients are served through efficient, cross‑disciplinary processes and durable relationship stewardship.

Melisa advises clients on all aspects of employment, compensation and benefits across the full lifecycle of corporate activity, bringing particular depth to the complex employment and benefit issues that arise in domestic and cross-border deals. Melisa regularly counsels on the design and implementation of annual and long-term incentive compensation programs; hiring and workforce optimization strategies; employment and separation agreements; restrictive covenants; equity incentive arrangements; severance and retention programs; and related taxation, securities and regulatory considerations. She also represents individual executives and management teams in negotiating employment and separation arrangements.

In addition to being a leader in the field, she is deeply involved in the legal community and is a strong, firm citizen. Her thought leadership —including co-authored client-facing publications such as Annual Reporting and Proxy Season reference guides; articles addressing executive perquisites, Nasdaq’s board diversity rules, Delaware’s forfeiture for competition ruling, U.S. worker classification rules, California’s AB 692, the Florida Choice Act, and Federal Trade Commission non-compete actions and enforcement; webinars; an SEC roundtable briefing; and a recent quotation in The Deal—advances transparency, accountability, and best-in-class practices that benefit the market and society.

Melisa serves on the firm’s Recruiting Committee, is a member of the NYC Bar Association's EBEC Committee, and acts as group staffing partner with a strong focus on mentorship. As partner sponsor of the women’s affinity group, she is deeply engaged in the firm's inclusion initiative. She is also deeply committed to pro bono work, advising not-for-profit arts and education organizations.