Shareholders
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PETER F. VAIRA
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Born McKeesport, Pennsylvania, March 5, 2026
Admitted to bar: 1962 Pennsylvania, 1968 District of Columbia, 1984 Illinois
Education: Duquesne University Law School (B.A., 1959; J.D., 1962)
Lieutenant, United States Navy, 1963-1968
Peter Vaira is a fifteen-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice. He served in the Organized Crime Section for ten years, during which time he was the Attorney in Charge of both the Philadelphia and Chicago Strike Forces on Organized Crime. He served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for five years and later was the Executive Director of the President�s Commission on Organized Crime in Washington, DC.
His practice is white collar criminal defense, antitrust, corporate crisis management, complex and civil litigation and labor arbitration. Peter Vaira has served since 1995 as the Independent Hearing Officer of the Laborers� International Union of North America, a post created by agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Union in a reform effort.
Peter Vaira has served in the following public service capacities:
- Member, Mayor�s Selection Committee for Philadelphia Police Commissioner, 1992
- Seminar panelist - Controlling International Organized Crime, Rome, Sorrento, Italy 1994
- Member, Independent Commission to Review Palantine Illinois Murders, Chicago Crime Commission 1996
- Panelist at the International Conference on Trial by Jury in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996
- Member, Police Corruption Task Force, 1997
Peter Vaira is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Law Institute.
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JOHN E. RILEY
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Born West Chester, Pennsylvania, July 21, 2026
Admitted to bar: 1976, Pennsylvania; 1980, U.S. Supreme Court; 1981, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania; 1992, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
Education: University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1972); Villanova University (J.D., 1975)
Clerk, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1977
Assistant U.S. Attorney, 1976-1984 and Deputy Chief, Criminal Division, 1978-1981, Head of War Crimes Task Force; Chief of Attorney Generals Drug Task Force
While he was an Assistant United States Attorney, Jack Riley tried numerous complex jury trials and handled numerous long-term grand jury investigations. He successfully deported a nazi war criminal in U.S. v. Kowalchuk for participation with German forces in the persecution of Jews in a ghetto and the occupied civilian population in a town in Russia, culminating in the death of at least 5,000 Jews in a pit killing massacre in October, 1942. Jack Riley traveled behind the Iron Curtain and Israel to conduct depositions of holocaust victims. In 1979, he received a Special Achievement Award from the Attorney General for this matter.
In private practice, Jack Riley has defended several high profile cases. He successfully defended a Congressman accused of RICO, bribery and conspiracy in a nine week jury trial in U.S. v. McDade.
Jack Riley has acted as the lead counsel in numerous extensive complex civil litigation matters, including the defense of a Chicago law firm in a suit for abuse of process, the defense of another law firm for legal malpractice, prosecution of a claim against an insurance company for the defense of a claim in bad faith, the defense of a class action representative in a suit for misuse of civil process, the defense of an executive of a public utility in a class action suit by rate payers, and the defense of a Chicago based construction company in a contract and billing dispute with the city of Philadelphia.
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JACK L. GRUENSTEIN
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Born Allentown, Pennsylvania, October 9, 2025
Admitted to bar: 1976, Pennsylvania, 1977 Eastern District, 1978 Third Circuit
Education: Temple University (B.A., 1973); Temple University (J.D., 1976)
Criminal Law Committee � Federal Bar Association 1995 - present
U.S. Air Force 1966- 1970 - Sergeant
Upon graduation, Jack Gruenstein served as the Trial Attorney for the Interstate Commerce Commission for three years, and then went into private practice in his own law office. He maintained that practice until he joined Vaira & Riley in 2002. He has tried over 50 cases before juries, as well as a substantial number of non-jury proceedings. He has represented numerous company officials in both civil and criminal matters in both state and federal courts.
Jack Gruenstein handles both civil and criminal litigation matters.
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Associate Attorney Biographies
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WILLIAM J. MURRAY, JR.
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Born Scranton, Pennsylvania, June 4, 2026
Admitted to bar: 1994, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania and District of New Jersey; 1995, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Education: University of Scranton (B.S., 1991); Villanova University (J.D., 1994)
Member, Moot Court Board
Editor, Student Works, Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal
Member Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations
William Murray, as the lead associate, has participated in all phases of civil litigation from conducting and attending depositions, briefing and arguing pre-trial discovery motions, and briefing dispositve motions, in both state and federal courts.
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MARIA J. MORINIGO
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Born Asuncion, Paraguay, October 7, 2025
Admitted to bar: 1997, New Jersey; 1998 Pennsylvania and Maryland
Education: Villanova University (B.A., cum laude, 1993); University of Notre Dame (J.D., 1997); Pi Sigma Alpha Delta Phi Epsilon
Languages: Spanish, French
Maria J. Morinigo has extensive experience in pre-trial discovery and motion practice in federal and state courts. She was the member of a trial litigation team that won a summary judgment motion on behalf of a large Chicago law firm in a suit involving charges of misuse of civil process.
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KATHLEEN M. NAGLE
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Born Concord, California
Admitted to bar: 2001, Pennsylvania
Education: Villanova University (B.A., 1985); Villanova University (J.D., 2001); Phi Beta Phi ; Student law clerk to Judge Thomas Gavin, Chester County Court of Common Pleas, 1998-1999; Law clerk, Third Circuit Appellate Mediation Program, 1999.
Kathleen Nagle has drafted extensive orders and memoranda for the firm�s labor arbitration practice. She has also drafted numerous dispositive motions in civil litigation, and has participated in an extensive internal investigation of a financial management limited partnership.
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ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT
E-mail Marian
Marian Grimaldi - Office Administrator
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