Melissa Gardner

Melissa Gardner is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office with a practice focused on digital privacy and consumer protection complex litigation.

A pioneering advocate for personal rights and dignity in every domain, Melissa has been a key player in precedent-setting class actions that have put an end to numerous invasive and misleading corporate business practices, and recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for consumers. Her past and current work includes litigation challenging website tracking technology, mobile device tracking and data sharing software, deceptive design in financial technology apps and software, misuse of identities in online advertising, invasions of email, online messaging, and other electronic communications privacy, platforms that facilitate identity theft and fraud, deficient cybersecurity practices, and other violations of consumer rights, including a recent class action settlement, on the eve of trial, of medical battery claims on behalf of purchasers of allegedly experimental and unreliable medical testing .

Melissa was named a Rising Star for Northern California for seven consecutive years by Super Lawyers, selected for Best Lawyers’ Ones to Watch 2021 inaugural edition and each year since, named to the first edition of Lawdragon 500 X - The Next Generation, and named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America each year since 2023. She has served on the Law360 Editorial Advisory Board, Cybersecurity & Privacy, since 2024.

Melissa received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was a semi-finalist in the Harvard Ames Moot Court Competition, as well as a Student Attorney with the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project and South Brooklyn Legal Services. Prior to attending law school, Melissa worked for the Skagit County Community Action agency in Washington State and served for three years with the United States Peace Corps in Tianshui, China.

Publications & Presentations

•Speaker, “Tricks are for Kids: The Dark Side of Children’s Gaming Apps,” Harvard Plaintiffs’ Law Association (HPLA), March 2023
•Speaker, “How the CCPA Relates to Other Existing Laws,” Bar Association of San Francisco Cybersecurity and Privacy Law Conference, November 2020
•Co-Author, “Play Ball: Potential Private Rights of Action Emerging From the FIFA Corruption Scandal,” 11 Business Torts & RICO News 1, Summer 2015

Honors & Awards

•“Ones to Watch,” Best Lawyers, 2021-2025
•“Lawdragon 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers,” Lawdragon, 2025, 2026
•“Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2023-2026
•“Lawdragon 500 X - The Next Generation,” Lawdragon, 2023, 2024
•“Super Lawyer for Northern California,” Super Lawyers, 2024
•“Rising Star for Northern California,” Super Lawyers, 2017 - 2023

In the News

•April 24, 2026
19 Lieff Cabraser Lawyers Named to the 2026 “Lawdragon 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers” Guide
•February 17, 2026
30 Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Recognized as Lawdragon “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2026
•June 30, 2025
28 Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Selected as 2025 Northern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
•February 28, 2025
33 Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Recognized as Lawdragon “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2025
•August 15, 2024
38 Lieff Cabraser Lawyers Named to 2025 Best Lawyers Listings