Mary Ellen Hennessy concentrates her practice on class actions and complex commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation, with extensive experience in litigation involving claims under the securities and antitrust laws. She also has extensive experience in litigation matters involving for-profit, postsecondary education, including shareholder and student class, derivative and individual actions.
As a trial lawyer, Mary Ellen represents publicly traded companies and their directors and officers in securities class and derivative actions. She has tried both fraud on the market class and individual securities fraud actions in the federal courts, including successfully defending individual defendants in one of the only fraud on the market, insider trading class actions ever to go to trial through verdict and appeal. She also represents individual directors and officers in connection with breach of fiduciary duty claims, as well as special committees and special litigation committees of boards of directors faced with claims brought both directly and derivatively. In addition, she counsels and represents foreign and domestic companies in connection with federal and state antitrust class and related opt-out actions.
Mary Ellen has been involved in the representation of a wide range of companies, including Schenker, Inc.; Le Carbone Lorraine; Career Education Corporation; Global Med, Inc.; Motorola/General Instrument Corporation; Ball Corporation; Caremark, Inc.; Fruit of the Loom, Inc.; The Chicago White Sox; Wells Fargo; The American Express Company; Dayton Power & Light; and Kemper Corporation. She has a record of consistent success in her motion practice in jury and nonjury cases she has tried in the federal and state courts, and in arbitrations held before the American Arbitration Association, the New York Stock Exchange and the International Chamber of Commerce. She also practices in the federal appellate courts and before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and provides significant counsel in her mediation practice involving class, antitrust, opt-out and complex commercial claims.
Mary Ellen has spoken on issues relating to the securities laws, including the impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act on class action and derivative claims, as well as the fiduciary duties of directors and officers.
