Melissa Farrar is a senior associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she practices primarily in the areas of white collar defense and investigations and corporate compliance. She also maintains a practice in government contracts compliance and litigation.

Melissa has experience representing and advising multinational corporations in internal and government investigations on a wide range of topics, including compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-corruption laws, anti-money laundering, and tax. She has conducted fieldwork in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

She has been recognized by the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Criminal Defense: White-Collar.  She was named by Expert Guides in its 2021 and 2022 Rising Stars Guide, which recognizes the brightest and most talented practitioners under 40 in the area of business law and related practices.

Melissa also counsels corporations on the effectiveness of their compliance programs and in connection with transactional due diligence, with a particular emphasis on compliance with anti-corruption laws.

Selected recent matters include:

• Represented a multinational pharmaceutical company in negotiating resolution of whistleblower-driven FCPA investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and U.S. Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in three countries. This representation resulted in non-public declinations by both DOJ and the SEC.
• Conducted a post-monitorship anti-corruption compliance review and assessment for a global conglomerate and industrial manufacturing company.
• Conducted pre-acquisition anti-corruption due diligence for a multi-billion dollar acquisition of an international e-commerce company.
• Completed two Independent Examinerships for Swiss financial institutions participating in the DOJ Tax Swiss Bank program.

Melissa received her law degree with high honors from the George Washington University Law School in 2013, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, she was a member of the George Washington Law Review. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004 from Dartmouth College.

Melissa is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.