Melissa San Angelo’s practice encompasses employment, corporate, business, real estate, probate, and estate planning law. Melissa represents businesses of all sizes as a commercial and transactional lawyer. She also provides legal counsel to individuals and families for estate planning and probate matters, including contested issues.
She assists employers of all sizes with navigating employment matters, including wage and hour, discrimination, wrongful termination, and harassment claims. She has helped employers proactively navigate employment claims by reviewing and modifying employment policies and handbooks, and by conducting workplace investigations into employee complaints. Melissa has extensive experience addressing administrative agency complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona Civil Rights Division. Her broad range of employment defense experience makes her an effective counselor for her clients both inside and outside the courtroom.
Melissa counsels growing businesses on business formation and contracts, and advises firms on acquisitions and sales. She assists companies with securing and maintaining federal and state-level trademarks and trade names. She also has experience defending healthcare providers facing medical malpractice claims or regulatory board complaints.
Melissa spent four and a half years in private practice in Southern California at the beginning of her career. She continues to represent clients in California in addition to her Arizona-based practice.
She is a Tucson, Arizona native who strives to empower her clients through creative problem-solving and thoughtful advice. When she is not working, she can be found enjoying the outdoors or Tucson’s culinary scene with her family.
Presentations & Publications
• Presenter, “Community Service - the Key Ingredient to Every Career Stage,”ignite520 Tucson Young Professionals Leadership Conference (2022)
• Co-Author, Arizona Business Law Deskbook, chapter on Discrimination and Sexual Harassment (2019 - current)
Professional Recognition
•The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Labor and Employment; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Elder Law; Health Care Law; Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants (2021 - 2025)
Community Involvement
• Young Lawyers Division of the Pima County Bar Association (Past President, 2019 - 2020)
• Tucson Young Professionals (Board of Directors, 2021 - Current)
• Startup Tucson (Mentor, 2022 - Present)
Legal Updates & Firm News
Aug 16, 2024 - General
Gust Rosenfeld P.L.C. Attorneys are once again Recognized as “Best Lawyers” and “Ones to Watch” in the 2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America
Aug 23, 2023 - Press Release
The Best Lawyers in America 2024 Names Gust Rosenfeld Attorneys “Lawyer of the Year”; “Ones to Watch”; and “Best Lawyers”
AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
