Maura Kathleen Monaghan is Co-Chair of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group and Healthcare & Life Sciences Group. Her practice focuses on a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters, including products liability and mass tort litigation, environmental, healthcare, regulatory and criminal investigations and arbitration. Ms. Monaghan was named Law360’s “Healthcare MVP” (2020). She is recognized as a “Litigation Star” and as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” by Benchmark Litigation (2015–2023). She lectures and writes regularly.
Ms. Monaghan is ranked as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA (2013–2024), where she is recognized as “a clear thinker who is extremely well organized and highly intelligent.” She is also said to be “an expert in her field,” “a lead litigator through and through,” with clients highlighting her “rapier-like mind,” “great analytical skills and excellent judgment.” Clients have also described her as “a brilliant combination of intelligence, kindness and good instincts,” and “a master of strategy.” She is said to be “an outstanding litigator who always puts the client’s interests above all else.” Clients praise her ability to “grasp complex legal and factual issues quickly, understand clients' business needs and craft winning strategies” and note a willingness to “trust her with high-value work in a heartbeat.” Ms. Monaghan is also recommended as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500 US (2024), where she is said to have “a phenomenal reputation” in healthcare litigation, and which has described her as “very smart, extremely articulate,” “super dedicated” and “scalpel sharp.” Benchmark Litigation, which recognizes Ms. Monaghan as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation,” notes that her peers also commend her work, with one peer commenting that “Maura has a photographic memory and is just a brilliant legal analyst.”
Ms. Monaghan is a member of the New York bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Fourth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Ms. Monaghan is a member of the Torts Drafting Committee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
Prior to joining Debevoise in 1998, Ms. Monaghan served as a law clerk to the Hon. Loretta A. Preska, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1996 to 1997 and to the Hon. Dennis G. Jacobs, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1997 to 1998. Before attending law school, Ms. Monaghan worked at Sony Music International.
Ms. Monaghan is a co-author of the Practising Law Institute’s 2023 edition of the “Privacy Law Answer Book.” She is also the co-author of numerous articles, including “Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025,” Law360 (February, 2025); “The death of Chevron: Implications of the Loper decision for public companies,” Westlaw Today (September, 2024); “After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs,” Law360 (July, 2024); “What Banks Should Know About TCPA Exam Policy Updates,” Law360 (December, 2023); “Artificial Intelligence in Class Action Litigation,” New York Law Journal (December, 2023); “The new frontier of fraud, waste and abuse: COVID-related misconduct enforcement trends,” Reuters (March, 2023); “TCPA Litigation And Compliance After Facebook Ruling,” Law360 (April, 2021); “A Look at Recent Efforts to Contain Health Care Costs,” Law360 (January, 2018); “How Section 1332 Waivers Could Impact Health Care Reform,” Law360 (July, 2017); “Avoiding And Defeating Securities Fraud Actions Against Clinical-Stage Biopharmaceutical Companies,” Bloomberg BNA Life Sciences Law & Industry Report (July, 2015); “Food For Thought: Corporate Executives On Notice That DOJ Will Seek To Hold Them Criminally Liable for Contaminated Food Outbreaks And Product Failures,” Bloomberg BNA’s White Collar Crime Report (November, 2014); “It’s A Hard-Knock Life: The Rough-And-Tumble Fight Over Orphan Drug Pricing,” Bloomberg BNA’s Pharmaceutical Law & Industry Report (November, 2014); “Compliance Corner: The Clock Is Ticking: 60-Day Rule and FCA Liability for Overpayments,” Bloomberg BNA’s Health Care Fraud Report (September, 2014); “Vicarious Criminal Liability in the Executive Suite for Problems on the Manufacturing Floor,” Bloomberg BNA’s Pharmaceutical Law & Industry Report (April, 2014); “Court Rules that Due to Misrepresentations by Plaintiffs’ Firms, Garlock’s Settlement History Does Not Accurately Represent Its Actual Asbestos Liability,” Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law (February/March, 2014); “Enforcement without Guidance: The FDA’s Policing of Online Pharmaceutical Advertisements and Communications,” Bloomberg BNA Pharmaceutical Law & Industry Report (December, 2013); “GSK’s $3 Billion Settlement Reflects Continued Expansion In Scope Of Pharma Plea Agreements,” Rx Compliance Report (August, 2012); and “An Unprecedented Settlement For FDCA Violation,” Law360 (May, 2012).
Ms. Monaghan received her J.D. magna cum laude from Fordham University in 1996 where she was Order of the Coif and a writing and research editor for the Law Review, and her B.S.F.S. cum laude from Georgetown University in 1990. She serves on the Board of Advocates for Children, the Advisory Board of the Feerick Center for Social Justice and the Board of the Fordham Law Alumni Association, as well as the Board of Friends of the Pelham Public Library.