Christina Ferrari
Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A.
Recognized since 2023
Manchester, New Hampshire
Administrative / Regulatory Law
Commercial Litigation
Health Care Law
Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
As a litigator and outside general counsel, Christina has a depth of experience serving clients in a broad range of industries, especially those operating in highly regulated areas, and successfully achieves the best outcomes for her clients based on their needs.
As lead counsel, Christina skillfully advocates for her clients in federal and state courts, before administrative tribunals, and in alternative dispute resolution settings. She efficiently manages and guides her clients through every stage of the legal process, from pre-suit preparation, through all-important discovery and pre-trial advocacy, to trial and beyond. Christina sees the forest and the trees, and is sought out as a litigator for high-stakes disputes who agilely employs practical, risk-based strategies for her clients’ success and tenaciously seeks to remove roadblocks to resolution.
Before entering law, Christina earned her Master’s Degree in medical science and spent several years as a biomedical researcher in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in neuroscience, neurosurgery, and neuropsychopharmacology. She now puts her industry-specific technical knowledge to work in defending clients in the life sciences, medical device, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors in a variety of complex litigation matters, where Christina leverages her background and ability to speak the language of her clients’ industries to give her an advantage over her opponents.
Christina’s areas of expertise as a litigator include:
- Commercial litigation involving business and contract disputes, including contract procurement and bid protest litigation;
- Healthcare litigation, including federal and state fraud and abuse matters and government investigations and enforcement actions;
- Defense of licensing complaints and disciplinary actions against physicians, nurses, and other licensed professionals;
- Digital health and health technology litigation;
- Litigation involving life sciences, biologics and biosimilars, diagnostics, medical device, and pharmaceutical matters;
- Product liability litigation;
- Toxic torts and environmental litigation; and
- Administrative law litigation.
Christina also uses her skills and experience as a litigator to serve as outside general counsel to corporate clients of all types and sizes, both public and private, from start-ups to multinational companies and every stage of growth in between.
Because she often already speaks the language of her client’s business and industry, Christina hits the ground running as an extension of her client’s teams and works cross-functionally to accomplish the client’s business objectives and goals while navigating the gray of evolving regulatory environments. She especially excels at translating innovative technologies and business models to government enforcement agencies and regulators, and in employing risk-balanced strategies, whether in a contract, in day-to-day operations, or internally with leadership and stakeholders, to ensure that a client’s business and competitive position is not only protected but advanced.
As outside general counsel, Christina is an accessible, trusted advisor who provides a set of services tailored to her client’s unique needs:
- Counsel, negotiation, and execution of a full range of strategic transactions and partnerships, such as research and development collaborations, joint ventures, licensing and technology transfer arrangements, supply and distribution agreements, contract research and manufacturing relationships, commercialization and promotion arrangements, master service agreements, and material and data transfer or use agreements;
- Development and implementation of standardized templates, procedures, and playbooks to ensure efficient, risk-balanced scaling of a client’s business;
- Counsel of internal and external stakeholders, scientific, business, and academic, on short-term and long-term strategies for risk-balanced business operations and product development;
- Creation, training on, and management of regulatory compliance programs;
- Management and resolution of federal, state, and local government enforcement investigations and actions;
- Management of pre-litigation matters and alternative dispute resolution;
- Counsel regarding business model formation and implementation, with an emphasis on innovative delivery models within existing and anticipated regulatory frameworks;
- Counsel and implementation of corporate responsibility and ESG initiatives; and
- Selection and coordination of local or special counsel and other professional expertise, as needed.
To further drive value to her clients, Christina proactively identifies appropriate expertise in other areas required to best suit her clients’ needs and leads interdisciplinary teams with diverse capabilities to comprehensively serve clients cost-effectively and seamlessly, saving clients from having to separately engage and manage a multitude of professionals at significant expense and time.
Christina maintains an active pro bono practice, and in 2022, she was awarded the firm’s Sumner T. Bernstein Pro Bono Service Award.
Christina also serves as a thought leader and speaker on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the legal profession. She is a past President of the New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association (NHWBA). In 2020, the New Hampshire Bar Association awarded Christina the Philip S. Hollman Award for Gender Equality. Established on the occasion of the Honorable Philip S. Hollman’s retirement from the Superior Court bench in 2003, the Philip S. Hollman Award for Gender Equality is a prestigious honor presented to those who exhibit dedication to promoting respect and fair treatment towards all members of the judicial system and have served as a leader and role model in matters of gender equality.
In 2010, Christina received her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center, where she was a Daniel Webster Scholar and sworn into the New Hampshire Bar prior to graduation. During law school, Christina clerked for the Honorable James E. Duggan of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and was an award-winning competitor in the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition in patent law. Prior to law school, Christina received her M.A. in medical science, with thesis honors, from Boston University School of Medicine in 2006, and her B.A., with distinction, from Boston University in 2004.
- Jefferson Mill Building, Suite 108
670 North Commercial Street
P.O. Box 1120
Manchester, NH 03105-1120
- University of New Hampshire, Franklin Pierce School of Law, J.D., graduated 2010
43 The Best Lawyers in America® awards
9 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America awards
- Administrative / Regulatory Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Health Care Law
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
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