Bio
Karyn D. Rienzi is a Principal and Co-Chair of the Firm's Appellate Department and focuses her practice exclusively on post-trial and appellate litigation in state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies. Ms. Rienzi also works closely with trial attorneys on pre-trial and trial strategies to protect and enhance a client’s post-trial and appellate rights. Her post-trial and appellate practice includes a wide range of legal areas, including casualty, insurance coverage, construction injuries, premises liability, professional liability, products liability, and workers’ compensation.
Ms. Rienzi has represented clients before various appellate tribunals, including the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, and the New Jersey Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Prior to joining Post & Schell, Ms. Rienzi worked for several years with two Philadelphia firms, where her practice focused on litigating casualty claims, catastrophic loss claims, premises liability claims, products liability claims, and insurance coverage issues in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, during which she handled all aspects of her cases, including motion practice, discovery, and depositions, as well as representing clients at arbitrations and trial.
In 2024, Ms. Rienzi was appointed as a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Amicus Curiae Brief Committee, a specialized committee with membership by special invitation only by the PBA President. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Ms. Rienzi was appointed as Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Appellate Courts Committee. She was selected for inclusion in the 2008 - 2018 editions of Pennsylvania Super Lawyer - Rising Stars, a listing of the top 2.5 percent of attorneys in the Commonwealth who are 40 or younger or have been practicing for less than 10 years. For information about this selection and an overview of common third-party publications, rankings, and lists methodologies, click here.
Education
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J.D., Cum Laude, American University, Washington College of Law, 2003
Line Editor, American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law -
Randolph College, 1999
Graduate of the Randolph Macon Woman’s College study abroad program at the University of Reading, England. -
B.A. in History, Summa Cum Laude, La Salle University, 2000
Full scholarship recipient; University Honors Program
Bar Memberships
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Affiliations
- Current Member – Pennsylvania Bar Association Amicus Curiae Brief Committee
- Past Member – Philadelphia Judicial Selection and Retention Committee
- Past Co-Chair – Philadelphia Bar Association Appellate Courts Committee
Representative Cases
- Successfully pursued an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court of a $700,000 judgment against professional sports franchise in a premises liability matter involving alleged negligent security. The court agreed that franchise was not on notice that violent assaults regularly took place in a particular area of their stadium and vacated the award to the plaintiff, overturning the decision of a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury.
- Successfully defended against an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court of a Pennsylvania district court’s defense verdict in a medical malpractice trial. Plaintiff alleged a patient’s death was caused by a doctor’s failure to surgically implant a feeding tube as requested by the patient’s son as power of attorney. The three-judge panel affirmed the district court judge’s decision to deny a new trial finding that the defense’s medical expert testimony was properly admitted at trial.
- Successfully defended against an appeal of an Order granting summary judgment in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, for a logistics solutions manufacturer. Plaintiff alleged claims of strict products liability, negligence, and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, involving an accident on a refitted conveyor belt that resulted in significant hand and arm injuries.
- Successfully defended against an appeal of a trial court order granting summary judgment as to all claims against a hospital in a premises liability action before the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
- Successfully defended against an appeal of a trial court order granting summary judgment in an insurance coverage action on behalf a large insurance company before the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division.
- Successfully pursued an appeal to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in a workers’ compensation matter on behalf of a large manufacturer in which the employer argued, and the Court agreed, that the claimant was not in the course and scope of employment at the time of his injury, and therefore, not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
Publications
- Author, "Expectations After Pa. High Court Workers' Comp Ruling," Law360 (July 5, 2017)
- Co-Author, "Penn. Court Rules on Workers’ Compensation Subrogation Case," Workers' Compensation Institute (WCI) (February 2, 2016)
- Co-Author, "Pennsylvania Ruling on AMA Guides," Workers' Compensation Institute (WCI) (September 23, 2015)
- Editor, "The Guide to Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation, an Analysis of Law and Procedure" (2013 Edition)
News & Insights
Education
-
J.D., Cum Laude, American University, Washington College of Law, 2003
Line Editor, American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law -
Randolph College, 1999
Graduate of the Randolph Macon Woman’s College study abroad program at the University of Reading, England. -
B.A. in History, Summa Cum Laude, La Salle University, 2000
Full scholarship recipient; University Honors Program
Bar Memberships
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Affiliations
- Current Member – Pennsylvania Bar Association Amicus Curiae Brief Committee
- Past Member – Philadelphia Judicial Selection and Retention Committee
- Past Co-Chair – Philadelphia Bar Association Appellate Courts Committee