Gregory Ferroni

Leading Through the Law

For Gregory Ferroni, BS ’16, JD, working as a lawyer is a part of the bigger picture of supporting others. 

Gregory Ferroni, BS ’16, JD, was on his way to medical school. After four years studying biology at Saint Joseph’s, he’d made it all the way to the interview stage of the application process, following through on his goal of becoming the next healthcare professional in a family full of doctors and nurses. 

What he really wanted, though, was a way to unite his love of science with his skills in oral advocacy and critical thinking. After speaking with some of the professors and Jesuits he’d bonded with during his college career, including Vincent Genovesi, S.J., he realized there was a better path forward. Rather than pursuing a career in medicine, he would turn his attention to the law. 

Now, after earning a JD at Villanova University, he’s found his place as a fourth-year associate at global law firm DLA Piper, where he represents pharmaceutical, life science and medical device companies in intellectual property and patent litigation.

“My work allows me to combine my talents in the legal field with my passion for science,” Ferroni says. “It incorporates my favorite part of science: I can pick up something I’m not familiar with and learn a lot about it.”

In his first week on the job, after completing a clerkship with Judge Joel H. Slomsky of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Ferroni was asked to write the briefs for a patent case — and won. Since then, he’s built an early-career reputation as a skilled practitioner who is as comfortable taking depositions as writing motions on behalf of high-profile clients. 

He’s currently working with colleagues at DLA Piper on a series of personal injury and wrongful-death claims involving a popular antacid, among other matters.

Joe Baker, a fellow associate at DLA Piper who also clerked with Judge Slomsky, worked alongside Ferroni on a pro bono case representing the city of Philadelphia against election fraud claims related to the 2022 elections. He describes Ferroni as “very mature and very poised,” someone who “can see through the noise and be in control even in chaotic situations.” 

A background in the sciences also goes a long way toward helping him navigate the challenging legal questions that arise in intellectual property and patent cases. 

“When you understand the facts at that level, you’re able to apply the law to them in a much more thoughtful, nuanced and persuasive way,” Baker says.

For Ferroni, the foundation for everything he’s doing now was developed at St. Joe’s, where he learned not just the scientific facts that undergird our world, but how to approach them analytically. He recalls the open-ended questions he found on so many biology exams, where he was asked to think deeply about what he’d learned — and what he hadn’t — to offer answers that searched beneath the surface. Those questions helped him feel comfortable when dealing with unfamiliar topics, he says.

“It’s incredible to be challenged in that way,” he says. “There was no way to get an easy A. It really prepared me for the rigors of practice — not just for law school itself but for working in a high-intensity environment at a big law firm. They never let you get away easily. You earn everything you get [at St. Joe’s].”

Out of appreciation for Saint Joseph’s and the other institutions that have shaped him, Ferroni makes it a point to give back by visiting regularly and offering support to the generation coming up behind him. He returns each year to the classroom of Edwin Li, PhD, associate professor and co-director of the biology graduate program, to speak with students in his biotechnology course about the role of the law in governing the patents that are so critical to life in a scientific laboratory, using examples of litigation that has shaped the status quo. Ferroni also offers students a window into a career path they might not have considered, Li says.

“He brings something students would not have thought about,” Li says. “In a traditional science class, everything is pretty much black or white. You learn the facts, and that’s what students are used to. But when Greg comes he presents cases, which are not really black or white.”

The same desire to help others that brings Ferroni back to his college classrooms contributes to his pro bono work. He supports the Eastern District’s Supervision to Aid Re-Entry (STAR) program, assisting men and women coming out of prison as they re-enter society. He helps them clean their records of any outstanding legal concerns, “so they don’t have these things hanging over their heads while they’re trying to better themselves,” he says.

He also had the chance to promote democracy and fair elections when he worked on a team representing Philadelphia in election-related lawsuits from both sides of the aisle. With the support of Ferroni and “an incredibly brilliant braintrust of lawyers” working alongside him, he says, the city was able to hold its elections in a uniform manner without being upended.

“One thing that always stuck with me about a Jesuit education is the idea of using your talents to benefit others and figuring out what those talents are,” Ferroni says. “That’s really what animates my drive to help people and to help society in general.”

Connect with Gregory Ferroni.