Melissa Carrington

Melissa focuses her practice on fighting predatory consumer lending practices and protecting workers’ retirement savings. Prior to joining Engstrom Lee in 2025, she was a senior trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, where she litigated violations of federal civil rights laws in lending and housing. Previously, she served as Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, where, among other duties, she supervised her office’s investigations of violations of the False Claims Act, including healthcare fraud and complex fraud in other government programs.

Melissa started her career as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett in the Northern District of Iowa and U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal in the Central District of Illinois. She then entered private practice, where she litigated employment cases and commercial disputes.