Mellissa Duru is a corporate partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn, where she is a member of the firm’s Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Practice Group. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mellissa served as Deputy Director of the Division of Corporation Finance’s Legal Regulatory Policy group at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As Deputy Director, Mellissa oversaw transactional filings, rules, interpretative guidance, and exemptive and no-action relief requests within the Division of Corporation Finance’s Office of Mergers & Acquisitions, Office of International Corporation Finance, Office of Small Business Policy, Office of Rulemaking, and Office of Structured Finance.
Before her role at the SEC, Mellissa was a special counsel in the Securities & Capital Markets practice at a multinational law firm, advising clients on securities regulation, capital markets transactions, and strategic corporate governance. She also served as a Vice Chair of the firm’s global Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practice.
Mellissa’s distinguished SEC career spanned more than 18 years, during which she served as Counsel to SEC Commissioner Kara Stein, Special Counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance’s Office of Mergers & Acquisitions, and Cybersecurity Legal and Policy Advisor in the Division of Examinations. She also was selected as the SEC Brookings Institute Legislative Congressional Fellow in the Office of U.S. Senator Jack Reed.
Her extensive experience in both private practice and at the SEC has equipped her with deep expertise in a broad range of areas, including 1933 Securities Act and 1934 Securities Exchange Act rules and advisory work, public company reporting obligations, domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, tender offer and going private transactions, proxy solicitations, strategic shareholder engagement and corporate governance advisory work, beneficial ownership reporting, and ESG and cybersecurity disclosure and governance.
Mellissa earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A., First Class Honors, from McGill University. She is a member of the New York State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar.
Capabilities
- Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance
- Artificial Intelligence
- Capital Markets
- Fintech and Digital Assets
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation
- Private Equity
Credentials
Education:
- Harvard University - 1999 Juris Doctor
- McGill University - 1996 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- District of Columbia Bar
- New York Bar