Clifford Chance LLP

Global Financial Markets, Restructuring & insolvency

Melissa Coakley leads the London Restructuring and Insolvency team. Melissa advises a broad spectrum of stakeholders on consensual and non-consensual cross border and domestic restructurings, work outs, reorganisations and formal insolvencies.

Melissa's commercialism, high level of technical knowledge and strategic thinking has seen her acting across sectors (including infrastructure, retail, transport, telecommunications, manufacturing, oil and gas, financial services, commodities), across geographies, engaging with differing regulatory environments and legal systems (including 5 years spent on secondment in the Middle East), and for a wide variety of stakeholders: corporate borrowers, funds, banks, insolvency officeholders, government, private equity sponsors and material trade creditors.

Joined Clifford Chance 2003

Admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales 2005

Secondment to Bank of England 2007

Secondment to Clifford Chance Dubai 2010-2015

Partner since 2020

Council Member and director of the Insolvency Lawyers Association

Member of R3, IWIRC and INSOL

University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (LLB) 2001