Ms. Tessaro’s principal area of practice is civil litigation, in both state and federal courts.  She has over 20 years of experience litigating a wide variety of cases on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, including environmental, product liability, construction, class action and general business litigation.

Between 2004 and 2008, Ms. Tessaro was the principal author and editor of the e-DAT Group’s E-Discovery Law Blog (www.ediscoverylaw.com).  Ms. Tessaro monitored new developments in this constantly evolving area, researching state and federal decisions and court rules, and writing articles and CLE materials relating to e-discovery.  Having analyzed virtually all significant e-discovery decisions from courts around the country, Ms. Tessaro designed the group’s searchable E-Discovery Case Database, and implemented a major re-design of the database after the E-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect. 

In addition, Ms. Tessaro was instrumental in the launch of the firm’s Construction Law Blog (www.klconstructionlawblog.com), the legal blog published by K&L Gates’ Construction & Engineering Practice Group.

Ms. Tessaro has been with the firm since 1997. Previously, she was an associate at a national plaintiffs' class action firm.  Ms. Tessaro was among the class action attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litigation, and was a member of both the state and federal trial teams that litigated the case in 1994.  Ms. Tessaro started her legal career in California as a litigation associate and summer associate working for a large international law firm based in Los Angeles.

In 1995, Ms. Tessaro was named "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by Trial Lawyers For Public Justice (award shared among members of the federal trial team in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litigation).