Alisa Melekhina is a litigation associate whose practice focuses on white collar investigations and general commercial litigation and intellectual property disputes. Ms. Melekhina has represented Russian-based clients in U.S. litigation proceedings. She is highly experienced in leading large e-discovery teams during complex and cross-border litigation and financial regulatory investigations, working across legal, tech, and client teams. She has recently published articles on e-Discovery best practices and cross-border data minimization in the New York Law Journal.
Ms. Melekhina joined Debevoise in 2014. She received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Certificate in Business Economics and Public Policy from the Wharton School of Business in 2014. Ms. Melekhina was an associate editor of the Journal of International Law. While in law school, she founded the Eastern European Law Students Association (EELSA). Ms. Melekhina also served as the President for the Penn Law Intellectual Property and Art Law groups. She interned in the Anti-Piracy group of the Legal Department at FOX Filmed Entertainment in Los Angeles.
Ms. Melekhina received her B.A. summa cum laude from Drexel University in 2011, graduating in two years and receiving the Highest Academic Achievement Award.
Ms. Melekhina is a nationally ranked competitive tournament chess player and an internationally ranked chess master, and a frequent public speaker and lecturer on chess topics. In 2009, she won the gold medal in the Women’s World Team Championships held in Ningbo, China. Ms. Melekhina is also classically trained in ballet.
Ms. Melekhina is the author of “Career Crossroads,” Chess Life (April, 2015) and the subject of the article “Debevoise Associate Moonlights as Chess Champion,” The American Lawyer (January, 2015). She is the co-author of “Navigating Cross-Border E-Discovery and Data Transfers in U.S. Litigation and Investigations,” New York Law Journal (January, 2023); “Practice Pointers for Streamlining and Managing Complex E-Discovery,” Law.com (September, 2022); “Spotlight on Russia and its Neighbors,” FCPA Update, Vol. 6, No. 11 (June, 2015); “Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Anti-Corruption Compliance And Antitrust Law In Russia,” CEE Legal Matters (May, 2015); “Compliance in a Hot Zone: Ukraine Enacts New Anti-Corruption Laws,” FCPA Update, Volume 6, Number 7 (February, 2015) and “Intellectual Property Issues in Chess Games,” Oxford University Press (2011).
Her speaking engagements include “All Rights Reversed: Dissecting Novel Legal Issues in Generative AI,” Law.com LegalWeek (March 2023) and numerous lectures over the years on chess careers, theory, and strategy.
Ms. Melekhina was born in Crimea, Ukraine and is a native Russian speaker.