About Marisa

Marisa Katz primarily represents consumers in class actions, as well as employees who have been targets of employer misconduct. She litigates complex class action cases on behalf of consumers against the credit insurance, banking, real estate, payday loan, mortgage and automobile loan industries. She has also represented consumers serving in the military who have fallen victim to unlawful practices by the financial services industry in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Marisa brings to our team more than fifteen years of pretrial, trial and appellate litigation experience. She was an associate, then partner, with Crowder Teske, PLLP from 2008-2012. During that time, she worked exclusively on class action litigation on behalf of consumers. In 2012, Marisa was a founding partner of Teske Katz Kitzer & Rochel. Since then, her achievements in class action cases include litigation resulting in benefits (monetary and otherwise) for consumers victimized by practices such as unlawful fees on payday loans, illegal mortgage prepayment penalties, unlawful collection of mortgage deficiency balances, wrongful vehicle repossession, unlawful sales of sham automobile service contracts, and failure to pay straight time and overtime wages.

Earlier in her career, Marisa was a staff attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, Inc. (SLLS) in New Orleans, Louisiana. There she represented low-income individuals in consumer law matters, including bankruptcy. In 2007-2008, she was also supervising attorney for the Tulane Law School—Legal Aid Consumer Advocacy Clinic. Along with her consumer work, Marisa represented victims of domestic violence, and worked as well on other family law, public benefits and housing law matters. She was at the forefront of the legal aid response immediately following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and was featured in both The American Lawyer magazine in 2005 in an article about the legal response to the hurricane, and in a 2017 exhibit at the Louisiana Supreme Court marking the 50th anniversary of legal service programs in that state, which documented the immediate and long-term efforts of legal services attorneys following Katrina. Marisa’s life and work during and after Hurricane Katrina was a formative time for her both personally and professionally, and from which she continues to be inspired to advocate on behalf of those victimized by predatory business practices.

Presentations & Awards

From 2014 through 2017, Super Lawyers has recognized Marisa as a Minnesota “Rising Star,” as well as a “Super Lawyer” in 2019 and in 2020. Each year, no more than 5% of practicing attorneys in the state receive this award, which is based on a combination of peer nominations and objective criteria.

Marisa regularly presents at continuing legal education (CLE) courses in both consumer and employment law, including recently at the 2018 National Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, St. Thomas School of Law, Minnesota Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Minnesota State Bar Association, and the Webcast Seminar series with Minnesota CLE. Earlier in her career, she was an invited lecturer and speaker at the National Association of Housing Counselors and Agencies’ annual conference presenting on bankruptcy law; at the University of California-Hastings School of Law course on consumer law; at Southern University New Orleans graduate course on domestic violence law; at community centers in metropolitan New Orleans on jurisdictional problems of relocation and displacement following Hurricane Katrina; and at Loyola University-New Orleans College of Law on working in the public sector.

Admissions & Education

Marisa earned her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University-New Orleans College of Law in 2004, and received her B.A. from Oberlin College in 2000. She is admitted to practice law in Minnesota, Louisiana (inactive) and Georgia (inactive), as well as federal district courts in Minnesota and Louisiana.

Activities & Involvement

Marisa is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), the Minnesota Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association (MN-NELA), and the Consumer Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA). Marisa also contributes her time authoring amicus briefs on behalf of NACA and MN-NELA.