Founding partner Melody Wells is an award-winning former federal prosecutor who brings more than seventeen years of investigative and litigation experience to strategically advise individuals and organizations facing complex legal challenges.

Melody served as a federal prosecutor for more than twelve years in the Northern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of New York. Most recently, she served as Chief of the National Security and Cybercrime Section in Chicago, where she investigated, prosecuted, and supervised a wide range of cases, including complex fraud, money laundering, computer intrusions, economic espionage, export control violations, and theft of trade secrets. She also coordinated closely with federal investigative agencies and international partners on cross-border evidence gathering, extraditions, and international investigations. For her work, Melody received the Executive Office of United States Attorneys Director’s Award for Superior Performance in Prevention and Reentry Activities and the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence in International Operations.

While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Melody served in several leadership roles, including Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Coordinator, Export Control Coordinator, Disruptive Technology Strike Force Liaison, and Digital Asset Coordinator. In these roles, she trained and advised prosecutors on electronic evidence, cryptocurrency tracing and seizure, export enforcement, and investigations involving emerging technologies. Melody began her career as a litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she worked on complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters in federal and state courts.

A graduate of Columbia Law School, Melody received the Whitney North Seymour Medal for Distinguished Trial Advocacy, earned James Kent and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar academic honors, and served on the Human Rights Law Review. Before law school, she was a Teach For America corps member. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University, earning the University Medal for highest academic achievement.