Sidley partners Diane C. McEnroe and Marissa Alter-Nelson have been named to the 2022 “Notable Women in Law” list by Crain’s New York Business. The annual list profiles the impressive women lawyers in the region for their professional achievements and her pro bono work or involvement in industry and community organizations.
As a member of Sidley’s Food, Drug and Medical Device Regulatory practice, Diane has long-standing relationships with global companies in the food, drug, medical device, and personal care industries. Diane is counsel to many clients in the dietary supplement space, providing advice on FDA regulation and working with industry trade groups to consider how to modernize or enhance the governing laws. Diane and others in the practice group were called upon at the outset of the pandemic to provide counsel on FDA’s approach to regulated Personal Protective Equipment as clients sought to donate products such as masks, gloves and respirators. Diane also advised companies with respect to the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization process to move forward lab and at-home testing kits. Beginning in 2020, Diane served as New York Chair, now Co-Chair, of Sidley’s Committee on Retention and Promotion of Women. Despite numerous challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, she has remained actively engaged in supporting the women lawyers in NY, pivoting the Committee’s regular programming into a remote-friendly format, adding targeted programming to specifically address issues impacting younger women associates, and finding new opportunities for women lawyers to remain relevant and enhance their professional positions.
Marissa is a star litigator in Sidley’s nationally prominent litigation practice. She is the first Black lawyer in Sidley’s New York office to rise through the ranks from first-year associate to partner. Her many impressive accomplishments include a recent victory for Accor, a world-leading hotel management company and hospitality group, in connection with a bankruptcy estimation hearing related to a dispute over the hotel formerly known as the Fairmont San Jose. She is also a lead player on the Sidley team representing Citigroup and affiliates in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, a consolidated MDL, consisting of putative class actions, brought on behalf of all merchants in the U.S. She has also developed a robust pro bono practice, which includes the representation of death row inmates who were denied a fair trial and victims of domestic violence.