Mario A. Pacella was born in Buffalo, New York in 1972.

Mario graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1994 with degrees in Government and History. While at the College of William and Mary, he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, an honorary society for leadership and academic achievement.

In 1997, Mario graduated from the William and Mary School of Law, ranking in the top ten percent of his class.

Immediately following law school, Mario clerked for United States Magistrate Judge James E. Graham in Brunswick, Georgia.

Following his clerkship and prior to joining the Strom Law Firm, Mario served as an Assistant Public Defender in DeKalb County, Georgia. Mario also served as special counsel to the Center for Prisoners’ Legal Assistance in Georgia and assisted inmates with Habeas Corpus petitions and wrote the litigation manual for inmate litigation under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.

Mario is a member of the South Carolina, Georgia, and New York Bars.

Mario is admitted to practice in the following courts:

• United States Supreme Court
• Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
• United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• The Supreme Court of Georgia, and
• All state courts in South Carolina, Georgia, and New York.

Mario has also been admitted pro hac vice in numerous federal courts, including:

• The Northern District of Florida
• The Southern District of Florida
• The Middle District of North Carolina
• The District of Connecticut
• The District of New Jersey
• The Southern District of Iowa
• The Southern District of California
• The Central District of California, and
• The Northern District of California.

Mario has also practiced in a number of other Federal courts in Multidistrict litigation.

Mario defends criminal cases in State and Federal Courts in South Carolina as well as the Southern District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, and the Middle District of Georgia. Mario has represented individuals and corporations accused of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, drug distribution, check kiting, and numerous other crimes.  Additional, Mario has litigated appeals in state and federal courts in South Carolina and Georgia and has appealed cases to the United States Supreme Court.

Mario also represents individuals on the civil side in the following types of cases:   class actions, social security, workers compensation, personal injury including traumatic injury, defective products including defective drugs, nursing home neglect, and predatory lending.

Mario has been named as class counsel in numerous class actions in South Carolina and nationwide.

Honors and Awards:

• Omicron Delta Kappa
• Legal Writing Instructor, University of South Carolina School of Law, 2003 – 2006

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• American Association for Justice
• South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association
• South Carolina Bar Association
• Georgia Bar Association
• New York Bar Association