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Zimmerman Reed is pleased to announce that Finnuala Kelleher Tessier has joined the firm as Of Counsel.

Finnuala brings more than two decades of experience at the highest levels of federal litigation — a depth of practice that is rare in any firm and directly strengthens Zimmerman Reed’s capacity to take on complex, consequential cases on behalf of the people who need them most.

Her background spans appellate advocacy, antitrust, criminal law, statutory interpretation, and constitutional litigation. During her tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice, she briefed and argued dozens of federal appeals, briefed numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and helped shape national litigation and sentencing policy at the senior level. At the Colorado Department of Law, she served as Special Antitrust Counsel and Senior Assistant Attorney General, working on antitrust litigation, federal grant litigation, and multistate enforcement matters.

What distinguishes Finnuala’s record is not just its breadth — it is the level at which that work was done. She has operated inside the institutions that define federal litigation, advised senior officials, and developed the kind of strategic and policy fluency that cannot be built from the outside. That experience is now in service of ZR clients.

“Finnuala has spent her career inside the institutions that shape federal law — not observing them, but operating within them at the highest levels,” said Managing Partner J. Gordon Rudd. “That kind of experience changes how an attorney thinks, prepares, and advocates. It’s exactly the kind of depth we want alongside our clients when the stakes are high.”

We’re grateful to welcome Finnuala to the firm.