Melissa Teo

Melissa focuses on the defence of public liability claims, workplace injury claims for common law damages, Accident Compensation Act 1984 (Vic.) recovery actions and property damage claims. She provides advice on policy coverage and other indemnity matters arising under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth).

Melissa acts for local and overseas insurers, entities with high deductibles, self-insured entities, government agencies and national utilities companies.

Melissa has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in financial accounting and corporate finance) from the University of Western Australia.

Before joining Sparke Helmore in 2016, Melissa spent four years as an insurance litigator at Wotton + Kearney, where she undertook a secondment in the casualty claims team at ACE Group (now Chubb). She previously worked as a paralegal at Norton Rose Australia. 

Melissa is constantly looking for new culinary and cultural experiences. She travels to exotic destinations (with a marginal preference for warm weather and crystal clear waters) and goes out of her way to try the "weirdest" foods on the menu at local restaurants. Some of the more unique dishes she has enjoyed include traditional vincisgrassi and dishes local to her hometown in Malaysia, such as steamed bamboo claims with Shaoxing wine and fiddlehead ferns stir-fried with garlic.