Ballentine, Elizabeth Wells

Ms. Bando obtained her B.A. from the University of Minnesota and graduated with honors in 1983 from Brooklyn Law School, where she was a member of the International Law Review.  Early in her legal career, Ms. Bando worked at the law firm of former New York Court of Appeals Judge, Hon. Jacob D. Fuchsberg, where she learned the art of appellate advocacy and plaintiffs' personal injury litigation.

Ms. Bando has also worked at one of New York City's largest and most respected defense firms, but returned to plaintiffs' personal injury work in 1998 as a member of a team of New York attorneys who successfully represented New York State in a landmark action against the Tobacco Industry. The action resulted in an approximately $25 billion award to New York State and nationwide, life-saving reforms in the advertising practices of the Tobacco Industry, amongst other things.

Ms. Bando opened her own appellate practice in plaintiffs' personal injury law, in 2002, before joining Pena & Kahn.  She is admitted in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and the Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  Ms. Bando has won many appeals on behalf of injured plaintiffs in New York State's Appellate Division and Court of Appeals and continues to do so for Pena & Kahn clients.