Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has hired Maria Cruz Melendez, who most recently served as deputy chief of the civil rights section at the Eastern District of New York U.S. attorney's office.

As a federal prosecutor, Cruz Melendez worked a variety of higher-profile cases, including the conviction last year of R. Kelly on racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. She also prosecuted multiple cases against La Cosa Nostra, specifically the Lucchese and Bonanno families.