About Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth Tenn trained at two Boston-area schools and stayed in the region. She earned a B.A. from Boston College in 1991 and completed her J.D. at Harvard Law School in 1994. Those years set the course for a career split between courtroom practice and bar governance.
She began her legal career in 1994 at Hale and Dorr, LLP, joining a large firm environment that exposed her to complex litigation and firm practice. In 2001 she became a partner at Tenn And Tenn, PA, where she has practiced for more than two decades. Her professional path includes admission to practice in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and she is admitted to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her work has an emphasis on domestic relations. She holds a Domestic Relations Law Expert certificate of excellence from Advisory Excellence, a credential that signals specialized legal training and peer recognition in family law matters. Over the years she has handled cases that require both negotiation and trial work, and she is known among colleagues for steady advocacy in courtroom settings and hearings.
Tenn’s involvement runs beyond client files. She is active in a number of bar and civic organizations. She serves on the Board of Advisors for the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Litigation Counsel of America, and the New Hampshire Bar Foundation. Her memberships include the Massachusetts State Bar, the New Hampshire Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Manchester Bar Association and several local and specialty bars focused on trial work, women’s issues and criminal defense.
Her public roles include participation in systems that oversee the profession. She holds membership on the New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners and is connected to the New Hampshire Lawyer Discipline System. Those positions involve reviewing standards and contributing to professional governance, rather than client representation.
Colleagues say Tenn combines courtroom experience with institutional knowledge of the bar. She has balanced private practice and bar service for much of her career, moving between litigation, case management and advisory roles on committees and boards.
Today she is a partner at Tenn And Tenn, PA, where she continues to represent clients in family law and related litigation. Her current practice centers on domestic relations and courtroom advocacy.
