Melissa Bonfiglio is the Deputy Director & Director of Litigation at the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia (LASEV). She leads LASEV’s strategic litigation and advocacy efforts, focusing on challenging systemic injustice and the root causes of poverty and inequality. Melissa has been at LASEV since 2015 and has experience litigating a wide variety of legal issues including eviction defense, housing conditions cases, consumer law issues, bankruptcies, public benefit appeals and family law matters. She started at LASEV as a Homeless Outreach Attorney, was a general staff attorney, and has also been the Managing Attorney of two offices.
Prior to joining LASEV, Melissa practiced in Los Angeles where she was an associate in the commercial litigation group of two law firms, volunteered for Public Counsel and handled a number of pro bono cases for animal welfare organizations. While at LASEV, she has served on the Board of the Southeastern Virginia Homeless Coalition and is currently on the Board for Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates. Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia, and her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. She is licensed in Virginia and California (currently inactive).