A partner in the Litigation Department, Maria T. Vullo has over 20 years of trial and appellate experience that includes a broad range of complex litigation matters across the country. Her professional experience includes the following:

• Over 25 trials, arbitrations, mediations and evidentiary hearings.
• Appellate arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Ninth (including en banc) and Tenth Circuits, and the New York State Appellate Division, First and Second Departments.
• Significant experience in civil, criminal and regulatory matters, and in subject areas that include securities, antitrust, real estate, tax, bankruptcy, constitutional law, intellectual property and environmental matters.
• Served as Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice under then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, responsible for the entire Economic Justice Division, comprising the Bureaus of Investor Protection, Antitrust, Real Estate Finance, Consumer Frauds and Internet.
• Client representations have included Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Genentech, Inc., Emmis Communications, Onex Corporation, Rhodia S.A., Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation, Cantor Fitzgerald, Carnival Corporation, Famous Music Corporation, Weis Markets Inc., Lazare Kaplan International, RAG American Coal Company, Northville Industries Corp., Cooper Union, Garden Way, Inc., and Harlan Weinberg, M.D. (Christopher Reeve’s physician).
• Reported decisions include Rockwell Int’l Corp. v. United States, 549 U.S. 457 (2007); In re Rhodia S.A. Sec. Litig., 531 F. Supp. 2d 527 (S.D.N.Y. 2007); Finance & Trading Ltd. v. Rhodia S.A., 28 A.D. 3d 706 (N.Y. App. Div., 1st Dep’t 2006); Dastgheib v. Genentech, Inc., 457 F. Supp. 2d 536 (E.D. Pa. 2006); In re Navigator Gas Transport PLC, 358 B.R. 80 (B. Ct., S.D.N.Y. 2006); RZS Holdings AVV v. PDVSA Petroleos S.A., 293 F. Supp. 2d 645 (E.D. Va. 2003); In re NAHC, Inc. Sec. Litig., 306 F. 3d 1314 (3d Cir. 2002); Garden Way Inc. v. Home Depot Inc., 94 F. Supp. 2d 276 (N.D.N.Y. 2000); United States v. Ackert, 169 F.3d 136 (2d Cir. 1999); In re Special Grand Jury 89-2, 143 F.3d 565 (10th Cir. 1998); BAII Banking Corp. v. Northville Industries Corp., 232 A.D. 2d 349 (N.Y. App. Div., 2d Dep’t 1996); Cullman Ventures, Inc. v. Columbian Art Works, Inc., 717 F. Supp. 96 (S.D.N.Y. 1989).
• Pro bono matters include Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, Inc. v. American Coalition of Life Activists, 290 F.3d 1058 (9th Cir. 2002) (en banc), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 2637 (2003); Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, Inc. v. American Coalition of Life Activists, 422 F.3d 949 (9th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1111 (2006); Doe v. Karadzic, 192 F.R.D. 133 (S.D.N.Y. 2000); United States v. Bird, 401 F.3d 633 (5th Cir. 2005).
• Firm administrative responsibilities have included appointments as Chair, Public Matters Committee, 2002-2004; Chair, Summer Associates Committee, 1999-2001; Member of Partnership Committee, 2003-2005; Member of Finance Committee, Public Matters Committee and Counsel Committee, 2006-2009; active participant in women’s mentoring, diversity initiatives, recruitment and retention of associates, and training programs for associates and staff attorneys.
• CLE Lecturer on a variety of subjects, including Trial Skills, Using Demonstrative Trial Exhibits, Strategy and Tactics of Depositions, Deposition Skills, Privilege, Overview of Litigation Documents, Client Relations and Expectations, Interviewing Witnesses, Federal Discovery Rules, and New York State Practice.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS AND PUBLIC SERVICE

Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice, Office of the New York Attorney General, 2010.

Member, First Department Judicial Screening Committee, March 2007-Present.

Member, New York State Bar Association, Committee on Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction, June 2006.

Member, Vetting Committee, Cy Vance for Manhattan District Attorney, October 2008-Present.

Co-Chair, Lawyers Committee for Andrew Cuomo, 2005-2006, 2008-2010.

Member, Public Service Committee, Federal Bar Council, 2003-2004.

Participant, Aspen Institute, Justice & Society Seminar (moderators Dean Kathleen Sullivan and the Hon. William Fletcher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit), August 1999.

Member, Board of Directors, National Organization for Italian-American Women, 2010-Present.

Member, Board of Directors, NARAL Pro-Choice America, 2005-2010; Chair, 2007-2009; Vice Chair, 2006-2007.

Member, Board of Directors, Sanctuary for Families, 1996-1998.

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION

Named one of the “Three Wise Women” by the National Organization of Italian-American Women, January 2010.

Honoree, Council of the City of New York, for outstanding contributions to the community, October 28, 2009.

Named “New York Super Lawyer,” Super Lawyers Magazine, 2006-2009.

Named in The National Law Journal’s “Defense Hot List” for successful trial representation of Genentech, Inc., July 16, 2007.

Recommended by PLC Which Lawyer? for “litigating some of the most challenging and complex cases in front of courts and arbitration panels.”

AV (highest) peer review ratings in Martindale-Hubbell.

Recommended by Global Counsel’s 2003-2004 Handbook on Dispute Resolution, for both trial and appellate matters.

Named “40 Under 40 Most Successful Litigators: Promising Young Advocates,” The National Law Journal, July 29, 2002.

Recommended by Practical Law Company’s Global Counsel 3000, for litigation and arbitration, January 28, 2002.

Named one of America’s Top 10 Women Litigators, The National Law Journal, December 17, 2001.

2001 Finalist for “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award,” Public Justice Foundation, for Kadic v. Karadzic.

Nominated for the 2000 “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award,” Public Justice Foundation, for Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, Inc. v. American Coalition of Life Activists.

Named “Litigator of the Month,” The National Law Journal, September 27, 2000.

“Lawyer Hero,” Stanford Law School, September 27, 2000.

Named one of the “Women on the Verge of 2000,” Ms. Magazine, December 1999/January 2000.

Named one of “The 25 Smartest Women in America,” Mirabella, September, 1999.

Named one of New York’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” by Crain’s New York Business, January 1999.

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY

Testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the then pending Bankruptcy Reform Bill, February 10, 2005.

Testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the then proposed Bankruptcy Reform Bill, televised on C-Span, February 8, 2001.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS (Partial List)

Panelist, “What’s at Stake - the Supreme Court,” National Women’s Leadership Issues Conference, Women’s Leadership Forum, Women for Obama, Chicago, Illinois, October 10-11, 2008.

Panelist, Women’s Campaign Fund, “The Changing Frontlines of the Courts,” November 14, 2005.

Jurist in mock U.S. Supreme Court, “Justine West v. New York,” Office of the Appellate Defender, October 4, 2004.

Panelist, NYU School of Law, “Public Interest While in Private Practice,” February 2, 2004.

Panelist, Pro Bono in Private Practice, Association of the Bar for the City of New York, September 15, 2003.

Guest Speaker, Yale University “Master’s Tea,” October 1, 2002.

Guest Speaker, Boalt School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, September 17, 2002.

Panelist, 2000 Legal Conference of the Anti-Defamation League, New York Regional Board, and New York Lawyers’ Division, “Hate Speech on the Internet: What Can and Should Be Done?,” March 9, 2000.

Moot Court Participant, Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law, February 23, 1998.

MEDIA (Partial List)

State News, “Legal Experts Tapped for Judicial Screening Committees,” March 8, 2007.

The National Law Journal, “High Court Vets False Claims Act,” by Marcia Coyle, November 27, 2006.

The Legal Intelligencer, “Jury Clears Genentech in Suit Asking for $1B,” by Shannon Duffy, November 13, 2006.

The American Lawyer, “Big Suits: Planned Parenthood,” November 2005.

The New York Observer, “City’s Lawyers Storm Florida in Ballot Blitz,” November 1, 2004.

The American Lawyer, “Pro Bono Highlight,” January 2002.

Marie Claire Magazine, March 2001.

The National Law Journal, “In Some Cases, Justice Carries No Price Tag,” February 19, 2001.

“60 Minutes,” interview by Ed Bradley, “‘Hit List?’; Organization Feels That They Have the Right to Publish Information About Abortion Doctors Regardless of Context,” February 20, 2000 (replayed on September 10, 2000 and July 21, 2002).

Newsday, “A Victory Over Hate,” August 11, 2000.

CNN International, CNN International Diplomatic License – Kadic v. Karadzic, “Women Win $745 Million Verdict Against Karadzic,” August 12, 2000.

The American Lawyer, “Defending the Doctors,” July 1999.

Miami Herald, “Company Says Doral Name is a Trademark But Its Origins Still In Doubt,” July 18, 1999.

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, “Threatening Speech,” February 9, 1999.

Inside Litigation, Aspen Law & Business, August 1999.

The Legal Intelligencer, “Court: Attorney-Client Privilege Doesn’t Protect Talk with Third Party,” March 4, 1999.

New York Law Journal, “Personal: Notes on Lawyers,” December 22, 1995.

Ms. Vullo was senior editor of the Moot Court Board and a recipient of several American Jurisprudence Awards and awards for excellence in oral advocacy. Ms. Vullo joined Paul, Weiss in 1988 after serving as a law clerk for the Honorable John A. MacKenzie of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. In 2010, she served as Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice under then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. She is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Ms. Vullo was elected to the partnership effective January 1, 1996.