Melissa Tang

Full Profile

Melissa is a transport disputes and regulatory lawyer with extensive experience across aviation, shipping and logistics. She acts for insurers, reinsurers and operators in high value disputes and regulatory matters, with a focus on claims where cross border issues, liability exposure and recoveries are central. Her practice covers multi-party litigation, catastrophe response, crisis management, subrogated recoveries and regulatory investigations. Many of these matters have played out in the public eye or across several jurisdictions at once.

She has worked with the London reinsurance market on complex recoveries and cross border disputes, giving her direct insight into how global insurers approach claims strategy and coverage. Her practice is international in scope. She has advised across Asia and the Pacific, India, the United States, New Zealand, Latin America and Europe, coordinating with local counsel and regulators on significant aviation, shipping and logistics matters. Born in Malaysia and fluent in Cantonese, she brings cultural fluency and cross border awareness that insurers value when disputes cut across legal systems and cultures.

On the commercial side, Melissa advises on contracts, treaty and statutory interpretation, and risk allocation in transport and supply chain arrangements. She has negotiated and drafted charterparties, conditions of carriage, ship sale agreements and aviation operating contracts. She is also closely involved in emergency response and casualty planning. She has helped clients prepare manuals, stress test systems and has taken part in crisis drills with operators and insurers.

Melissa has been recognised in Legal 500 and Doyle’s Guide and was featured in the Lexology Index Thought Leaders Transport 2026 report. She also serves as Honorary Legal Advisor to the Executive Committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Australian Division, where she contributes to legal, risk governance and regulatory issues shaping the aviation and aerospace industry. As a Notary Public in New South Wales, she provides certification and authentication of documents for international use, complementing her cross-border practice.

Holding four degrees, including in commerce and computer science alongside law, she combines legal expertise with commercial and technical insight. Her background in computer science gives her an appreciation of systems, data and technology that is increasingly relevant to insurers navigating AI, automation and digital risk in the transport and logistics sectors. This perspective allows her to work comfortably with both technical experts and commercial decision makers, translating complex issues into strategies that insurers and reinsurers can use.

Melissa is recognised by clients and colleagues for her calm, thoughtful approach in high-pressure situations. She is often called on in the early stages of a crisis to help shape strategy, manage relationships and bring clarity to complex, fast-moving disputes. Known for her ability to think laterally and bring innovative solutions to complex problems, she combines technical expertise with cross-border perspective and a people-first style. Insurers and operators value her as a trusted adviser who can guide them through both immediate challenges and long-term recovery.
 

Experience

• Acting for an international cruise line in the Special Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 transmission and defending subsequent class action proceedings in the Federal Court. This work involved complex casualty litigation where passenger tort claims and consumer law allegations had to be managed in parallel, requiring close policyholder and insurer alignment.
• Advising on passenger illness outbreaks, including norovirus and weather-related incidents on cruise ships, and assisting operators and insurers to mitigate liability exposure, address regulatory investigations and manage reputational risk.
• Acting on major aviation casualty claims, including severe turbulence incidents, a cargo freighter crash and complex multi-jurisdictional claims arising from large-scale aviation losses. This work has also covered high-value engine damage disputes involving PPSR and cross-border financing issues, requiring close coordination between insurers, reinsurers, financiers and operators.
• Advising shipping interests in significant collision cases, running parallel proceedings in Chinese and Australian courts where liability regimes and forum considerations had a direct impact on insurance recoveries.
• Acting on supply chain and infrastructure recoveries, including damage to port assets, the collapse of a logistics operator and transport infrastructure failures. These matters involved cross-border enforcement, contribution claims and strategies to reduce insurer exposure while protecting recovery rights.
• Representing insured and insurers in cargo contamination claims, balancing compliance obligations with commercial recovery strategy while reducing supply chain risk exposure.
• Advising pilotage providers and their insurers in AMSA investigations and regulatory prosecution proceedings following marine incidents, including safety compliance, pollution and pilot liability issues.
• Acting for insurers in complex indemnity disputes in the energy sector, involving high-value claims, multiple proceedings and cross-border recovery issues where contractual interpretation and insurer exposure were central.
• Representing reinsurers in an international arbitration concerning a high-value satellite claim under PRC law, managing claims control, policy response and subrogated recoveries in alignment with global reinsurers.
• Acting on product liability and workplace safety investigations following a passenger bridge failure and other incidents involving specialist vehicles, including advice on regulatory exposure, designer liability and insurer defence strategy.
• Advising on a suite of shipping contracts to support the construction of a new international airport, including vessel charters, cargo carriage and risk allocation in supply chain logistics.
• Advising on enforcement strategy in high-value disputes, including structuring recovery actions through security interests, freezing orders, vessel arrest, PPSR issues and recognition of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.
• Drafting and negotiating charterparties, conditions of carriage, emergency response manuals and commercial contracts, ensuring liability regimes were aligned with commercial, insurer and legal expectations.
• Reviewing GDS agreements for a major Asia-Pacific airline, advising on contractual risk allocation.
• Acting in governmental inquiries and regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings, including Australian Border Force investigations, Anti-Dumping Commission inquiries and coronial matters.
• Assisting operators and insurers with emergency response planning, including drafting manuals, conducting crisis simulations and participating in casualty drills to test preparedness and liability exposure.