Photo of Marissa Tillem

Marissa Tillem is the Litigation Department legal director. Prior to becoming the legal director, Marissa was a litigation associate whose practice focused on a variety of complex commercial litigation matters including shareholder derivative litigation and corporate governance litigation, privacy and cybersecurity litigation, securities litigation and investigations and bankruptcy litigation.

Prior to joining the Firm, she was a clerk to Judge Cathy L. Waldor of the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and to Judge Michael B. Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey.

A recent decision of the New Jersey Appellate Division considered the enforceability of arbitration agreements by non-signatories. In Foti v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., the plaintiff filed a putative class action complaint against defendant alleging violations of New Jersey’s Truth-In-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”), as well as the state’s Lemon Law (N.J.S.A. 56:12-29 to -49). The panel determined, among other things, that by signing a lease agreement, plaintiff agreed to arbitrate her dispute not only with the underlying signatories of the lease, but with any of its affiliates.