Moira Penza is a Partner at Wilkinson Stekloff. She is first and foremost a trial lawyer with a record of success leading and winning high-stakes civil and criminal cases.
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’s minority investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. Just one day after Moira and the Wilkinson Stekloff team completed cross-examinations in plaintiff’s 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.
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’s science witnesses. Following 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.
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’ opening statement.
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. Notably, Moira’s groundbreaking prosecution and trial conviction of Keith Raniere — the leader of the purported self-help group NXIVM — generated worldwide media attention and has been credited with paving the way for other sex-trafficking prosecutions against powerful individuals.
Moira has been widely recognized for her work, including being named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal and Law360 in its prestigious “Trials” category, honored by Bloomberg Law in the inaugural edition of its “The 40 Under 40” list, appeared in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” list, and named to Crain’s New York Business “40 Under 40” list, the profile of which described her as, “a canny legal strategist” who can “go for the jugular when necessary.” Benchmark Litigation has also recognized Moira as a “Litigation Star” and named her to their “Top 250 Woman in Litigation” and “40 & Under” lists. Clients and colleagues have praised Moira for her “ingenuity, creativity and doggedness.” Moira is also regularly called upon by media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, PBS, NPR, and Reuters for her legal analysis.
Throughout her career, Moira has demonstrated a commitment to public service, including maintaining a robust pro bono practice while in private practice. Moira’s 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 of the Binghamton University Harpur Law Council.
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.
Moira’s other notable representations include:
- Trial counsel for Kynetic and Michael Rubin in an action by the founders of the flash sale site, Rue La La, alleging that the company and its CEO conspired with eBay to deprive them of the value of their company, resulting in a complete defense verdict.
- Represented Philip Morris USA in a consumer class action involving Light cigarettes and multibillion-dollar damage claims, including developing a comprehensive strategy for jury selection. After the first trial resulted in a hung jury, prepared witnesses and helped develop strategy for the successful retrial.
- Represented Pfizer in multi-district litigation regarding the hormone therapy medication Prempro, including identifying and preparing medical experts, resulting in multiple complete defense verdicts after trial.
- Represented the NFL in concussion-related litigation and its landmark class action settlement.
- First chair trial counsel in a consolidated product liability case for a major consumer product/pharmaceutical company.
Updated Sep 2024
