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Moira Penza 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. 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 in an administrative proceeding before the FTC related to its investment in JUUL, during which she led the preparation and examination of Altria’s science witnesses. Following the global settlement 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 in the Northern District of California arising out of the same investment.
Previously, Moira served as trial counsel for defendants Warner Chilcott and Watson (then-owned by Allergan) in an $8 billion 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 named a “Rising Star” by Law360 in the prestigious “Trials” category, honored by Bloomberg Law in its “The 40 Under 40” list, and named to Crain’s New York Business “40 Under 40” list, 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 Women 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, Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, PBS, NPR, and Reuters for her legal analysis.
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.
Updated July 2023