Mary Samonte
Mary Samonte is Of Counsel to Short Zevgaras & Kang, where she focuses her practice on healthcare fraud and abuse matters, medical privacy, and federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) litigation. She concentrates on developing civil healthcare fraud recovery cases for insurers, including analyzing claim patterns, identifying schemes involving healthcare providers and professional corporations, and helping to shape the firm’s overall litigation strategy in complex fraud matters. Her work also draws on her training in privacy law to address sensitive health information and related data‑protection issues.
Her practice spans all aspects of case development, with an emphasis on comprehensive legal research, drafting RICO complaints and related pleadings, and preparing substantive motions and memoranda in support of declaratory judgment actions and staged‑accident litigation. She also assists in organizing and evaluating evidence, investigative reports, and expert analyses, ensuring that the firm's fraud cases are grounded in a strong factual and legal foundation that advances insurers’ recovery efforts.
Before joining SZK, Mary was an associate at a full-service law firm in New York, where she developed expertise in medical and podiatric malpractice and long-term care litigation. Her experience spans all aspects of pre-trial discovery, including complex legal research, depositions, and consulting with medical experts to prepare for arbitration, mediation, and trial. Additionally, Mary brings a global perspective to her practice, having earned her Juris Doctor from Fordham Law School and an LL.M. in European Law (mention bien) from Université Paris II – Panthéon‑Assas in Paris, France, through Fordham’s double‑degree JD/LL.M. program. She is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) with a particular focus on medical privacy. Mary is an active member of the American Health Law Association, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, the New York City Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Physical Therapy Association, and she also serves as a NYC Medical Reserve Corps volunteer. Before entering the legal profession, she practiced as a licensed physical therapist in New York and earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of the Philippines, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of the East.