Melanie J. Vartabedian handles complex commercial litigation matters, focusing on consumer financial services litigation, receivership matters and securities litigation, real estate disputes, and diversity and inclusion counseling.
Melanie has litigated cases in state and federal courts across the country, and also has experience representing clients in arbitrations and government investigations. She is an experienced consumer finance litigator and defends individual and class action lawsuits brought by consumers in the areas of federal and state consumer protection laws and mortgage banking. Her practice includes defending financial institutions against civil claims alleging failure to adhere to AML and BSA regulations, policies, and procedures. She also represents real estate developers and private and public companies in business disputes relating to land use decisions. In addition, she has represented accounting firms and auditors in Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.
Melanie has extensive experience and involvement in government-appointed receiverships. Most recently, she represented the receiver in Securities and Exchange Commission v. American Pension Services et al., Case 2:14-cv-00309-RJS-DBP (D. Utah), a receivership involving over $350 million in assets and 5,500 defrauded investors across the country. She has prosecuted fraudulent transfer actions on behalf of the receiver in SEC receiverships, and has defended clients sued by various receivers in regards to fraud-related tort claims.
Melanie is passionate about Diversity & Inclusion issues. She served as co-leader for Ballard Women—Ballard Spahr’s national women’s group-- for seven years, where she developed programming for the firm’s women lawyers across the country. She is a member of Ballard Spahr’s internal Diversity and Inclusion Council, where she works closely with the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer to implement firm-wide diversity initiatives. Her Diversity and Inclusion work includes advising corporate clients with respect to their internal and external diversity and inclusion policies and practices. Learn more here: https://www.ballardspahr.com/people/attorneys/vartabedian_melanie