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A tenacious advocate and trusted legal advisor, Mary Fran understands how stressful it is for a client to be accused of a crime or for a family whose child has a legal issue. Mary Fran is an experienced litigator who focuses her practice on criminal defense, juvenile proceedings, school discipline matters, and special education. Mary Fran appreciates what is at stake not only for her clients, but for their families, too, and she has a deep-rooted commitment to working diligently to determine the most effective strategies and appropriate goals in each client’s unique situation.
Mary Fran began her legal career handling criminal cases in the trial division of the Legal Aid Society and has been practicing in the area of criminal defense for nearly 20 years. She is a vigorous protector of her clients’ rights, and her clients benefit from her unique, out-of-the-box thinking that comes only from experience. Mary Fran’s criminal defense practice includes counseling clients in all phases of criminal proceedings and quasi-criminal matters, including state charges, federal crimes, juvenile proceedings, internal investigations, and municipal court matters.
In the area of child advocacy, Mary Fran advocates for children with special needs so that they can obtain the education they need and have a right to receive, providing legal advice related to Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and accommodations, attending meetings with the child study teams, enforcing and revising IEPs, obtaining 504 plans, and handling mediation and due process hearings, among other services. With the right strategies and negotiation, many special education cases can be settled through conferences or mediation, but if needed, Mary Fran vigorously defends the rights of her clients through litigation. Mary Fran also provides representation when children are threatened with disciplinary action or are victims of students’ behavior.
Along with a successful private practice, since 2013 Mary Fran has helped lead firm pro bono efforts as the Pro Bono Committee Chair and Pro Bono Coordinator.
Areas of Focus
Criminal Defense
Mary Fran has extensive experience in a broad range of criminal defense matters in New Jersey and New York, including, but not limited to, state charges, federal crimes, and municipal court offenses. Mary Fran has been successful in obtaining dismissals and non-prosecutions for her clients. In some cases, she was able to convince the prosecution not to prosecute the case, in other instances she was able to obtain dismissals or gain her clients entry into the Pretrial Intervention program (PTI), which resulted in dismissal of matters upon the completion of the program.
Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings
Mary Fran has extensive experience in a broad range of juvenile matters, including, but not limited to, drug charges, sex crimes, criminal mischief, computer crimes, harassment, and assault. While she vigorously defends clients in juvenile court trials, she also strives for non-prosecution, dismissal, and probation where those resolutions are optimal.
Child Advocacy – Special Education/Discipline
New Jersey laws provide specific rights for children with disabilities. Mary Fran provides a full range of services in her advocacy for children with special needs, including legal advice relating to special education services and accommodations, child study team meetings, Individual Education Plan enforcement, 504 plans, and mediation. With the right strategies and negotiation, many special education cases can be settled through conferences or mediation, but if needed, Mary Fran also vigorously defends the rights of her clients in due process hearings in the Office of Administrative Law. For more information about Mary Fran’s Education Law practice, see Child Advocacy.
Pro Bono
As the Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee as well as Pro Bono Coordinator, Mary Fran mentors associates, seeks meaningful pro bono opportunities for the firm’s attorneys, and actively manages the firm’s pro bono caseload. Under her leadership since 2013, firm lawyers have donated thousands of pro bono hours annually focusing on areas of critical community needs and serving those who cannot afford legal services or are otherwise underrepresented, including: veterans, children with special needs, victims of domestic violence, trafficking cases, tenants’ rights, to name a few.
Due in large part to her commitment to pro bono, the firm has received national recognition for its efforts, including a John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award from the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association, and local honors from organizations such as VLJ and the Community Health Law Project. More recently, it was recognized with a 2024 CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award from the Pro Bono Institute for its work with VLP, and with the highest honors in the “Caring for Veterans” and “Caring for Children” categories of the “Companies that Care” Awards program sponsored by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) and COMMERCE magazine.
Mary Fran, herself, was a recipient of a 2025 Volunteer Lawyers for Justice Defender of Justice Award, named a 2025 Women Worth Watching in Leadership Award by the Profiles in Leadership Journal, honored by Mount Saint Dominic Academy as the 2025 Commencement Speaker, selected by New Jersey Family magazine’s 2025 Best Lawyers for Families list, named a New Jersey Law Journal 2024 Women Attorney of the Year, and bestowed with the Essex County Bar Association’s 2020 Bernard A. Kuttner Pro Bono Service Award. That these accolades have been received since she began overseeing Gibbons’s pro bono program attests to the quality of her leadership, vision, and influence. She has also been highlighted in Thomson Reuters Practical Law the Journal for A Public Interest Profile in 2021 and 2023.
Credentials
Education
Pace University School of Law (J.D.)
University of Hartford (B.A.)
Professional Admissions
State of New Jersey
State of New York
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Professional Activities
Supreme Court (NJ) Committee on Model Criminal Jury Charges, 2011-2013, 2013-2015, 2015-2017 terms
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey
Trustee (2017, 2018)
Co-Chair, Legislative Committee (2015, 2016)
New Jersey State Bar Association
Criminal Law Section (Member and Past Chair)
Continuing Legal Education Advisory Committee
Pro Bono Committee
School Law Committee
Editorial Board, New Jersey Lawyer Magazine
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
Trustee
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey
National Association of Women Lawyers
Planning Committee member and Co-Chair, Annual Meeting Program Book Committee (2012, 2013)
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.
New Jersey Special Education Practitioners (NJSEP)
Civic/Charitable Activities
Ms. Palisano handles numerous pro bono cases throughout the year, including cases involving victims of domestic violence, children with special needs, and expungement matters. Ms. Palisano also participates in internship programs where she speaks to high school students about the legal profession, pro bono work, and her practice areas.