{"id":1878,"date":"2019-09-25T17:53:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T21:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wilkinsonwalsh.com\/?page_id=1878"},"modified":"2024-01-31T19:35:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T00:35:45","slug":"moira-penza","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wilkinsonstekloff.com\/who-we-are\/moira-penza\/","title":{"rendered":"Moira Penza"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Moira Penza<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Partner<\/div>

Moira Penza is a Partner at Wilkinson Stekloff.\u00a0She is first and foremost a trial lawyer with a record of success leading and winning high-stakes civil and criminal cases.<\/p>\n

Moira recently served as trial counsel defending Altria Group, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries in the first government entity bellwether trial, brought by the San Francisco Unified School District, in multi-district litigation arising out of Altria\u2019s minority investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. Just one day after Moira and the Wilkinson Stekloff team completed cross-examinations in plaintiff\u2019s case and the defense case was about to begin, plaintiffs agreed to a global settlement with Altria that resolved the personal injury, consumer class action, and government entity cases brought in over 6,000 e-vapor cases in state and federal courts.<\/p>\n

Moira previously served as trial counsel for Altria Group, Inc. in an administrative proceeding before the FTC related to its minority investment in JUUL, during which she led the preparation and examination of Altria\u2019s science witnesses.\u00a0Following the global settlement of e-vapor cases in state and federal courts, the FTC dismissed its complaint against Altria in its related antitrust matter. Moira currently represents Altria in private antitrust suits pending in the Northern District of California arising out of the same investment.<\/p>\n

Previously, Moira served as co-lead trial counsel for defendants Warner Chilcott and Watson (then-owned by Allergan) in an $8 billon federal antitrust class action arising out of allegations of anticompetitive conduct related to an oral contraceptive, which settled for less than 5% of the claimed damages just days before Moira was set to deliver defendants\u2019 opening statement.<\/p>\n

Before joining the firm, Moira served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where she led numerous criminal investigations and prosecutions involving both white collar and violent crime.\u00a0Notably, Moira\u2019s groundbreaking prosecution and trial conviction of Keith Raniere \u2014 the leader of the purported self-help group NXIVM \u2014 generated worldwide media attention and has been credited with paving the way for other sex-trafficking prosecutions against powerful individuals.<\/p>\n

Moira has been widely recognized for her work, including being named a \u201cRising Star\u201d by the New York Law Journal and Law360 in its prestigious \u201cTrials\u201d category, honored by Bloomberg Law in the inaugural edition of its \u201cThe 40 Under 40\u201d list, appeared in Lawdragon\u2019s \u201c500 Leading Litigators in America\u201d list, and named to Crain\u2019s New York Business<\/em> \u201c40 Under 40\u201d list, the profile of which described her as, \u201ca canny legal strategist\u201d who can \u201cgo for the jugular when necessary.\u201d Benchmark Litigation has also recognized Moira as a \u201cLitigation Star\u201d and named her to their \u201cTop 250 Woman in Litigation\u201d and \u201c40 & Under\u201d lists.\u00a0Clients and colleagues have praised Moira for her \u201cingenuity, creativity and doggedness.\u201d\u00a0Moira is also regularly called upon by media outlets, including the New York Times<\/em>, the Washington Post,<\/em> Bloomberg, BBC, PBS, NPR, and Reuters for her legal analysis.<\/p>\n

Throughout her career, Moira has demonstrated a commitment to public service, including maintaining a robust pro bono practice while in private practice. Moira\u2019s pro bono work included serving as trial counsel for restaurant workers who had been sexually harassed by their former employer. Following a federal bench trial, the court awarded compensatory and punitive damages. Moira also serves on the steering committee\u00a0of the Binghamton University Harpur Law Council.<\/p>\n

Moira began her career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where she handled product liability, mass tort, securities, and other complex litigation matters and helped secure favorable results, including trial victories, for a broad range of clients across industries.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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1 (212) 294-8914<\/div><\/div>
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mpenza@wilkinsonstekloff.com<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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Moira Penza.vcf<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Education<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div>