Mary C. Pennisi
Associate
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-4086
USA
Phone: +1 212 471 1846
Fax: +1 212 202 6454
Email: MCPennisi@duanemorris.com

Mary C. Pennisi practices in the area of litigation. Ms. Pennisi has experience representing businesses and individuals in matters involving commercial, securities and international law. Admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, Ms. Pennisi has represented clients in disputes in both federal and state courts. She has also advised clients on corporate and securities regulatory compliance. In addition, Ms. Pennisi is dedicated to pro bono work assisting women and children who are survivors of domestic violence and commercial sexual exploitation.

Ms. Pennisi is a 2011 magna cum laude graduate of Fordham University School of Law, where she was an associate editor of the Fordham Urban Law Journal and a staff editor for the Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law. Ms. Pennisi also is a summa cum laude graduate of the William E. Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Litigation
• Securities Regulation and Litigation
• White-Collar Criminal Defense

Representative Matters

• Represented members of Reserve Primary Fund senior management and obtained a federal jury verdict clearing the clients of fraud charges in a case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission arising after a $62 billion money market fund "broke the buck."
• Represented a senior residential care corporation as health regulatory counsel in a $230 million transaction in which the client sold assisted living properties in five states to a REIT.

Professional Activities

• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
  -Member, European Affairs Committee, 2013-present

Admissions

• New York
• New Jersey
• District of Columbia

Education

• Fordham University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2011
  - Order of the Coif
  - Associate Editor, Fordham Urban Law Journal
  - Staff Editor, Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law
  - Criminal Procedure Editor, Moot Court
• William E. Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, B.A., summa cum laude, 2008
  - Valedictorian
  - Phi Beta Kappa

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Associate, 2011-present
• Center on Law & Information Policy
  - Fellow, 2010-2011
• Professor Joseph Perillo, Fordham University School of Law
  - Research Assistant, 2010
• United States Attorney’s Office, Criminal Division
  - Securities & Investor Fraud Unit Extern, Fall 2009
• The Honorable Richard K. Eaton, U.S. Court of International Trade
  - Judicial Intern, Summer 2009
• U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Edolphus Towns
  - Senior Research Fellow, 2005-2007

Board Memberships

• The GlamourGals Foundation
  - Member of the Advisory Board

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Brooklyn Family Court Volunteer Attorney Program

Selected Publications

• Featured in "Duane Morris Sponsors GlamourGals Foundation Charity Shopping Event at Henri Bendel in New York," Citybizlist, June 12, 2013
• Featured in "Litigator in the Spotlight" by Jan Wolfe, The American Lawyer, January 2013
• Co-author, "Defining and Re-Defining Due Diligence: In Search of a Standard," NYSBA Inside, Vol. 30, No. 3, 38 (Winter 2012)
• Co-author, "Recent Federal False Claims Act Decision Undermines Attorney-Client Privilege over Certain In-House Counsel Emails," Duane Morris Alert, December 10, 2012, reprinted in 5 Financial Fraud Law Report 221 (2013)
• "The Global City: Globalizing Local Institutions," 11 J. Int'l Bus. & L. 111 (2012)
• "Enforcing International Insurers' Expectations: Can States Unilaterally Quash Commercial Arbitration Agreements under the McCarran-Ferguson Act?," 16 Fordham J. Corp. & Fin. L. 601 (2011)
• Co-Author, "An Analysis of the Economic/Legal Literature on the Effects of IP Rights as a Barrier to Entry," World Intellectual Property Organization (2011)
• "A Herculean Leap For The Hard Case of Post-Acquisition Claims: Interpreting Fair Housing Act Section 3604(b) After Modesto," 37 Fordham Urb. L. J. 1083 (2010)

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Presenter, "'But I Thought My Conversation Was Privileged?' Attorney-Client Privilege Issues Every In-House Counsel Should Know About,” Duane Morris LLP, New York City, February 26, 2013
• Panelist, "Business & Law: The Tale of a Corporate Lawyer," Macaulay Business Club and Pre-Law Society, New York City, March 7, 2012