Teresa (Tea) Carnell has spent a unique career as a business lawyer in both the private and public sectors. Currently, as an assistant attorney general for the state of Maryland, she represents the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System in its private and public market investments and has also represented the state of Maryland’s primary venture investor in early-stage technology companies. In the private sector, she practiced at Venable LLP and Ballard Spahr LLP, representing publicly traded companies in corporate and securities matters, focusing on investment companies and real estate investment trusts. During her time in the private sector, she was chair of the Committee on Corporate Laws of the Business Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association and chair of the Business Law Section. Before private practice, she was legislative counsel to the House Economic Matters Committee of the Maryland General Assembly, drafting and advising on business and economic legislation. In these roles, she has advised decision makers in government and the private sector. In the span of her career, she has negotiated and drafted myriad agreements in complex transactions for both issuers and investors.
She received her JD from Maryland Carey Law in 1992 and was a Dean’s Scholar and Honors Degree recipient at the University of Delaware, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Political Philosophy.