Mary focuses her practice on litigation and strategy in lender liability, check and bank operation, class action, consumer finance, fiduciary matters, and creditor's rights disputes. While she is particularly experienced in the federal and state trial and appellate courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Mary represents banking clients in litigation and arbitrations across the U.S. Mary has handled every type of litigation impacting financial services and consumers, ranging from significant lender liability matters to claims under the Uniform Commercial Code, Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Housing Act, Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, Bank Secrecy Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, and state consumer protection statutes. She is particularly knowledgeable about deposit litigation and issues facing banks in their retail operations. Clients seek Mary's counseling on compliance issues affecting retail banks and other financial institutions, including matters such as garnishments and pre-litigation disputes involving deposit accounts. She regularly advises clients on pressing issues in financial services litigation, including EFTA, mass arbitration, Ponzi schemes, and elder fraud issues. Mary applies "lessons learned" from litigation to help her clients with all aspects of their daily banking practices. She has also handled cross-border business disputes implicating international issues and multidistrict litigation. In addition to financial services disputes, Mary has broad commercial litigation experience, regularly handling real property matters involving letters of intent, easements, joint ventures, option agreements, and other issues. She handles business tort, intellectual property, identity theft, and privacy matters, including trade secret theft, covenants not to compete, and other sensitive corporate disputes. Mary also has substantial experience in fiduciary and trust matters. Since 2020, Mary has served as a neutral on the Roster of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). As an arbitrator for AAA, she has handled dozens of consumer, commercial, and large complex cases involving myriad issues. Mary enjoys her work as an arbitrator, and her vast experience and understanding of the arbitration process helps her obtain excellent outcomes as an advocate for clients in various arbitral forums. Mary is proud of her ties to Virginia. She clerked for the Honorable Claude M. Hilton, has practiced in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for more than 30 years, and is a well-known practitioner in the rocket docket. Committed to cultivating professionalism and education on the rule of law, Mary served for six years on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Law Foundation. She is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association, a permanent member of the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and a master in the Pauline Newman Inn of Court.