Member News

(Jan. 2, 2026) — Attorneys Marni Weiner Arlia, Alessandra Ash, Michael A. Discenza, Meghan A. Hayden, Vincent R. Merola and Jeffery J. Sheng have been elected new partners at Harris Beach Murtha, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

These accomplished lawyers assist in representing regional, national and international clients, and practice in many of the firm’s focus areas. Here is more on each of our new partners:

Marni Weiner Arlia is a member of the firm’s Mass Torts and Industry-Wide Litigation Practice Group and our Product Liability and Comprehensive General Liability Practice Group. Marni is an experienced litigator and strategist in matters involving general torts, mass torts and toxic torts cases, with a principal focus on premises liability cases involving catastrophic injuries. She defends clients in multi-district litigation involving asbestos claims. Marni also handles matters concerning the defense of construction site accessibility. She represents construction companies and property owners in Labor Law Section 200, 240(1) and 241(6) claims.

Marni also defends municipalities in Child Victims and Adult Survivors Act cases. This work includes appearing for depositions and developing trial strategies.

A growing part of her practice at the firm includes the legal implications surrounding non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrency and other new Web3 technologies that span multiple practice areas.

Alessandra Ash is a member of the firm’s Environmental, Mass Torts and Industry-Wide Litigation and Product Liability and Comprehensive General Liability practice groups. She represents clients in high‑exposure mass tort and product liability matters nationwide. Her practice focuses on defending product manufacturers in complex toxic tort cases, including those involving defective products, alleged catastrophic injuries such as burns, water contamination, AFFF, PFAS and claims under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Alessandra has particular experience developing defenses grounded in scientific evidence, including epidemiology, toxicology and hematology.

Michael A. Discenza is a member of the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Practice Group and our Public Finance and Economic Development Practice Group, along with the Affordable Housing, Cannabis and Financial Institutions industry teams. He co-leads the Affordable Housing Industry Team. Michael focuses on commercial real estate, municipal and corporate law. He represents clients in private and public financing transactions, with special emphasis on commercial and real estate-related transactions involving industrial development agencies, urban renewal agencies, local development corporations, land use, zoning and federal, state and local incentives. He also represents developers, lenders and institutional and non-institutional investors in the acquisition, financing, development, construction, renovation, leasing, management and disposition of commercial real estate.

Michael counsels lenders on commercial real estate transactions nationwide and represents regional portfolio lenders and national delegated underwriting and servicing (“DUS”) lenders in the sale of loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with an emphasis on affordable housing, credit enhanced tax-exempt bond structures, green financing, student housing, manufactured housing and conventional loan programs. He represents investment funds and companies and has experience in corporate and mezzanine financing. Michael is accredited as a LEED AP in building design and construction. He was recently admitted as a fellow to the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.

Meghan A. Hayden is a member of the Commercial Real Estate Practice Group and three industry teams: Financial Institutions, Municipalities and Local Agencies and Real Estate Developers. She advises clients on finance, leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, loan workouts and restructuring, construction contracts, joint ventures and other commercial real estate transactions. Her experience includes representing lending institutions, property developers, owners, tenants and landlords. Meghan also represents and advises municipal clients in connection with general real estate and municipal matters. She was recently admitted as a fellow to the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.

Vincent R. Merola is a member of the Corporate Practice Group and Cybersecurity Protection and Response Practice Group. He represents clients in the areas of general corporate law, franchise law, securities and mergers and acquisitions. Vin advises companies at all stages of their business life cycle, including entity formation, capital raises, financing, acquisitions and dispositions. He has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating a wide variety of commercial agreements, such as service agreements, supply agreements, licensing agreements, operating agreements, shareholder agreements and buy/sell agreements. Vin also assists clients with the development and implementation of business succession plans.

Prior to transitioning to private practice, Vin served as Lead Counsel – Corporate Governance at Subway World Headquarters and managed Subway’s Corporate Affairs Group for over a decade, so he has deep experience advising franchisors with respect to brand growth and development on a global scale, as well as mitigating associated risks. He drafts, reviews and negotiates franchise disclosure documents, franchise agreements and related documents, as well as assists clients with Federal Trade Commission compliance and state franchise registrations. He counsels and litigates disputes, such as breach of contract, territorial encroachment and intellectual property issues.

Vin also has experience with online privacy law, having drafted and reviewed privacy policies for websites and mobile applications, ensuring the collection of consumer information complies with all applicable regulations, and working with companies to implement processes and procedures to comply with information requests from data subjects. He helps companies develop new and innovative ways to collect, share, use and safeguard the information they control, including tracking technologies, cookies, data collection, storage and use.

Jeffery J. Sheng is a member of four practice groups: Environmental, Insurance Coverage, Mass Torts and Industry-Wide Litigation and Product Liability and Comprehensive General Liability. Jeff concentrates on civil litigation and dispute resolution, particularly on matters arising from construction site injuries, premises accidents, human trafficking allegations, mass torts and product liabilities. He has deep experience defending and resolving cases involving catastrophic losses and developing and executing sophisticated risk transfer and liability allocation strategies in complex, multi-party disputes. Jeff is frequently engaged by clients to serve as parachute counsel in advanced-stage litigations to minimize their trial exposure or negotiate favorable resolutions on their behalf.

In conjunction with his litigation work, Jeff also maintains an advisory practice, counseling clients on risk management, risk containment and legal compliance issues that arise within their business operations.

About Harris Beach Murtha

Harris Beach Murtha formed in 2025 via the combination of Harris Beach PLLC and Murtha Cullina LLP. A forward-thinking and innovative partnership with the benefit of more than 250 years of combined history, Harris Beach Murtha’s New York roots reach back to 1856 and the firm has had ties to New England since 1936. Harris Beach and Murtha Cullina were separately among the country’s top law firms as ranked by The National Law Journal.

Harris Beach Murtha and its subsidiaries have a strong Northeast presence, with a global reach, and represent clients locally, regionally and nationally. Clients include Fortune 100 corporations, privately held companies, emerging businesses, public sector entities, tax-exempt organizations and individuals. The firm’s practice areas and industries served span appellate law, business litigation, cannabis, commercial real estate, construction, corporate, environmental, energy, financial institutions, financial restructuring, government compliance and investigations, health care, immigration, intellectual property, labor and employment, mass torts, medical and life sciences, political law, product liability, public finance, tax, and trusts and estates.

Harris Beach Murtha is the exclusive member firm in Connecticut for Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent firms with in-depth experience in more than 125 countries worldwide. As part of the Lex Mundi global network, Harris Beach Murtha can provide clients with preferred access to more than 22,000 lawyers around the world – all from a single point of contact. Lex Mundi allows Harris Beach Murtha to seamlessly handle clients’ most challenging cross-border transactions and disputes. The firm’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, Niagara Falls, New York City, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts and Newark, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.harrisbeachmurtha.com.