Meghan M. DiPerna
Associate
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-4086
USA

Phone: +1 212 471 1818
Fax: +1 212 428 6736
Email: mmdiperna@duanemorris.com

Meghan M. DiPerna focuses her practice on construction and real estate. Ms. DiPerna drafts and negotiates construction agreements, architect and engineer agreements, building loan agreements and trade contracts/subcontracts on behalf of developers, contractors and design professionals. In addition to this experience, Ms. DiPerna has assisted clients in disputes arising from a wide variety of public and private projects, including airports, hotels, school facilities, hospitals, commercial office buildings, condominium developments, retail centers, mass transit systems, power plants and highways. She has also coordinated extensive pretrial discovery, prepared briefs, motions and pleadings in several complex litigations, written opinion letters and provided advice relating to surety bonding, insurance and lien matters.

In the community, Ms. DiPerna serves on the board of directors of Resilience Advocacy Project, a nonprofit organization that works to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by empowering at-risk youth. She is also active in the New York/Long Island Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction, an association that promotes the advancement of women in the construction industry. Ms. DiPerna is also a pro bono volunteer with the City Bar Justice Center Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project, providing business-related legal advice to micro-entrepreneurs.

Ms. DiPerna is a 2005 graduate, with honors, of The George Washington University Law School and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Areas of Practice

• Construction Law
• Real Estate

Professional Activities

• Professional Women in Construction
• New York State Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association
• Virginia State Bar Association
• Federal Bar Council

Admissions

• New York
• District of Columbia
• Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Education

• George Washington University Law School, J.D., with honors, 2005
• University of Notre Dame, B.A., magna cum laude, 2002

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Associate, 2008-present
• Thelen LLP
  - Associate, 2007-2008
• Watt Tieder Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP
  - Associate, 2005-2007

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Resilience Advocacy Project
  - Member of Board of Directors
• National Association of Women in Construction
  - President, New York/Long Island Chapter, 2008-2009
  - Secretary, New York/Long Island Chapter, 2009-2010
• City Bar Justice Center Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project
  - Pro Bono Volunteer

Honors and Awards

• Chairperson, 2005 McKenna Long & Aldridge Government Contracts Moot Court Competition
• Best Briefs Winner, 2004 McKenna Long & Aldridge Government Contracts Moot Court Competition
• Selected Participant, 2003 Joint Programme in International Human Rights Law, University of Oxford

Selected Publications

• Co-Author, "Private or Public?: Either Way, Give Proper Notice of Construction Claims," New York Law Journal, December 23, 2009
• Co-author, "FAR Rules for Stimulus Funded Contracts: Alert 1 - Buy-American Provisions," Duane Morris Alert, May 5, 2009
• Author, "Laches Defense Bars Destruction of Condos for Copyright Violation, U.S. Court Holds," Construction WebLinks Business Bulletin, October 6, 2008
• Author, "General Contractors in Virginia: Another Hurdle to Establishing Your Mechanic's Lien," From the Ground Up, Spring 2006; Construction Law & Public Contacts News, Spring 2006
• Co-Author, "Termination for Convenience and Fraud: The 2005 McKenna Long & Aldridge Gilbert A. Cuneo Government Contracts Moot Court Competition," Public Contracts Law Journal, Summer 2005
• Co-Author, "Default Termination and Liquidated Damages: The Best Briefs from the McKenna Long & Aldridge Gilbert A. Cuneo Government Contracts Moot Court Competition, Public Contracts Law Journal, Summer 2004

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Seminar, "Construction Contracts," Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York City, July 28, 2010