Mary Jane "M.J." McKenna

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Areas of Practice

Mary Jane "M.J." McKenna has more than 25 years experience in civil litigation. The President-Elect of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, she is an experienced trial attorney with an AV^® Peer Review Rating. In addition to her work in products liability and plaintiffs medical negligence litigation, she has a decade of experience in the defense of complex and challenging medical negligence matters on behalf of insureds of the Harvard Teaching Hospitals, New England Medical Center and others. Ms. McKenna began her career in Nursing, enjoying a decade as a nurse clinician, educator and administrator, with special interest in medical and critical care nursing. This background provides her with a unique insight and judgment, as well as access to the medical community. Ms. McKenna has extensive litigation experience in countless medical negligence trials over twenty years with a proven record of excellence. Ms. McKenna enjoys a close working relationship with her clients, their counsel, and members of the bar.

Personal/Professional Experience

Attorney McKenna began her career in nursing in 1973 at Georgetown University Medical Center and later at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, where she was promoted to Director of Nursing in 1980. She began her legal career in 1983 and has gained more than 25 years experience in all phases of civil litigation at Swartz & Swartz in Boston; Sloane & Walsh, LLP, in Boston; and most recently as Managing Partner in Personal Litigation Practice at Swartz, McKenna & Lynch, LLP in Boston, from 1999 until joining Gallagher & Cavanaugh in 2008.

Honors and Awards

AV^® Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell.

Publications/Presentations

Publications: Liability of Medical Administrators and Supervisors, Debra A. Santos, Administratrix et al. vs. Il Kim, et al., 429 Mass. 130, 706 N.E. 2nd 658 (1999), Section Review, Massachusetts Bar Association, Volume 3, Number 3, Summer 2001

Presentations: Attorney McKenna is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker on topics related to Health Law, Litigation, Trial Practice, Medical Negligence, Peer Review and other topics. She has been Co-Chair of the annual MCLE Medical Negligence Forum for the past seven years.

Bar and Court Admissions

Ms. McKenna is admitted to practice to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts and the United States Supreme Court.

Education

J.D., Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA, 1982
M.S., Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 1976 (with distinction)
B.S. Nursing, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 1973
Sigma Theta Tau

Activities

Ms. McKenna is a member of the Leaders Forum, American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association. She has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Association and is serving as Vice-President of this association, the oldest bar association in Massachusetts. She has served on the Board of Governors of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, and as Secretary, Treasurer and now, President-Elect. Among many other appointments, she has served on the Civil Litigation Committee and Health Law Committee of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Steering Committee of the Women's Trial Lawyers Caucus, the Senior Women’s Trial Lawyers Group, and the Superior Court Bench & Bar Committee.