Mr. Ponticello obtained his Bachelors’ degree in History from Rutgers University, wherein he achieved membership in the Phi Alpha Theta national history honor society. Thereafter, he received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego, School of Law. Mr. Ponticello’s work on due process has been published as a lead Law Review article. “Over” Due Process: The saga of the NCAA, its members, and their representatives. 20 Lincoln Law Review 43 (1991).

He is admitted to practice law in both the State of California and New Jersey, as well as the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit, and the United States District Court, Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California.  Mr. Ponticello is also a certified specialist in workers’ compensation by the California bar.

Mr. Ponticello’s practice encompasses all aspects of civil and administrative law, primarily in the representation of employers and defendants in various employment related litigation matters. A true litigator in every sense, his experience includes the defense of matters in LHWCA, WCAB, OSHA, Jones Act, general maritime and civil defense cases, as well as state wide civil subrogation, in which millions of dollars have been recovered. 

This experience ranges from Mr. Ponticello’s obtainment of a $5.2 million jury verdict as a Plaintiff to numerous defense findings in various tribunals on behalf of Defendants.  In addition to this voluminous Trial experience, Mr. Ponticello is also a veteran of many appellate matters, having briefed and argued civil liability, Jones Act/general maritime, subrogation, California workers’ compensation and LHWCA matters before the United States Supreme Court, California Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and various California District Courts of Appeal.  

Mr. Ponticello has obtained published opinions from the United States Supreme Court, California Supreme Court,  United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, California Court of Appeal, First District and California Court of Appeal, Fourth District.  These include milestone decisions in general maritime law from the United States Supreme Court in The Dutra Group v Batterton 588 U. S. ____ (2019), and from the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, in California workers’ compensation subrogation, protecting and delineating employer’s rights, in Duncan v Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (2017) 18 Cal. App. 5th 460. 

For many years, Mr. Ponticello has been a state wide speaker, educator and presenter at educational conferences on litigation topics, including for the Council on Education in Management, National Association of Subrogation Professionals, Insurance Education Association, RIMS, Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada, and San Diego Insurance Adjusters Association, amongst other organizations, in addition to being a frequent leader of in-house employer educational seminars.  Mr. Ponticello has also published various works, including in the California State Bar California Lawyer’s Association Workers Compensation Quarterly, Volume 33. No.1(2020).