Marissa focuses her practice in the areas of premises liability, products liability, pharmacy, and commercial litigation for corporate clients, including one of the nation’s largest retailers. Marissa. handles cases in Pennsylvania State and Federal Courts. She manages her own caseload of premises liability and products liability matters and handles all aspects of the cases including pleadings, discovery, motion practice, arbitrations, mediations, and trials. Marissa also works as part of a team on complex pharmacy and commercial litigation matters.

Prior to joining McDonnell & Associates, Marissa’s practice focused on complex products liability matters involving defective medical devices. Marissa also worked on antitrust matters and was a member of the discovery committee in a multidistrict litigation. As a member of the committee, Marissa analyzed corporate documents such as FDA premarket testing and engaged in responding to and drafting discovery requests. Marissa also engaged in motion practice in federal courts, addressing a multitude of issues such as class certification and preemption.

Marissa attended Rutgers School of Law in Camden, New Jersey. While in law school, Marissa participated in the Pro Bono Mediation Project and served as the editor for the Journal of Law and Religion. Her article which analyzed the tensions between censorship on social media and the First Amendment was selected for publication in 2021.

Marissa is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In her free time Marissa enjoys scuba diving, traveling and experiencing the local food scene.

As an attorney representing consumers in class actions, Marissa has successfully argued against motions to dismiss and worked towards class certification, after which the parties often decide to settle.

Marissa successfully worked towards class certification of underage purchasers of JUUL products in In re JUUL Labs, Inc., Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, No. 19-md-02913-WHO (N.D. Cal.).

Marissa was a part of the team in In re: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-level Pap, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Litigation, No. 21-mc-1230-JFC, MDL No. 3014 (W.D. Pa.) which represented consumers all over the country for damages sustained due to a voluntary recall issued by the company.

Lectures

“Who is “Q?” A Glimpse Into Qanon and Social Media’s Use of Censorship as a Means to Combat Them”, 22 Rutgers J. L & Religion – Published in Spring 2022.