PROVEN IN AND OUT OF THE COURTROOM

Group photo of attorneys from law firm Blish & Cavanagh, LLP
Attorney Mary Cavanagh Dunn

Mary Cavanagh Dunn

  • Partner, 2013

Contact

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Practice Areas

  • Business Disputes
  • Products Liability Law
  • Media Law
  • Personal Injury Law
  • Employment Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Probate Law

Biography

Mary Cavanagh Dunn became a partner in the firm in 2013. She is an experienced civil litigator, focusing her practice on cases and appeals involving business, employment, defamation, products liability, personal injury, insurance and media law. In recent years, she has started to develop a probate litigation practice to handle cases in probate courts and appeals to superior court.

Ms. Dunn has successfully litigated cases in federal and state trial courts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court. She has achieved successful results through both court-sponsored and private mediations and uses her litigation experience to advise her clients on the most efficient solutions to their legal problems.

Ms. Dunn is an active member of the state and federal bars. She is a past president and current member of the Rhode Island Women's Bar Association and previously served on planning committees for the 2008 and 2013 Rhode Island Federal District Court Conferences. She has been member of the House of Delegates of the Rhode Island Bar Association since 2017 and currently serves on the Superior and Federal Court Bench/Bar Committees and the Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee. In 2022 she was selected as a Fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation.

Ms. Dunn has been named by Super Lawyers on its annual list of top litigation attorneys in the region every year since 2015. From 2010-2014 she was named a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers as one of the top emerging business litigation attorneys in Southern New England.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross in 1996 and received her J.D. cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in 2002.

During law school, she interned with the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She was a staff member of the Moot Court Honor Board, Production Editor for the Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy, and recipient of Jurisprudence Awards in Criminal Law and Corporations.

Ms. Dunn is actively engaged in the community and serves on the Board of Trustees of the TGC Memorial Fund, Inc. A native of Rhode Island, she currently resides in Cumberland with her husband and three children.

Education

  • Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
    • J.D. – 2002
    • Honors: cum laude
    • Honors: Moot Court Honor Board, Staff Member
    • Honors: Jurisprudence Award, Recipient
    • Honors: Honorable Bruce M. Selya, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Intern
    • Law Journal: Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy, Production Editor
  • College of the Holy Cross
    • B.A. – 1996
    • Major: History

Bar Admissions

  • Rhode Island
  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court District of Rhode Island
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit

Professional Associations

  • Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association, Past President, 2007 to 2008
  • Rhode Island District Court Conferences, Planning Committee, Member, 2008 and 2013
  • Rhode Island Bar Association, House of Delegates, Member, 2017
  • Federal Bar Association, Member

Honors

  • Rising Star in New England and Rhode Island, Super Lawyers Magazine 2010-2014
  • Super Lawyer in New England and Rhode Island, Super Lawyers Magazine 2015-2016

Pro-Bono Activities

  • TGC Memorial Fund, Inc., Board of Trustees