Areas of Practice

Education

Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 1994, Articles Editor, Law & Policy in International Business, Winner, Beaudry Cup Moot Court Competition, National Moot Court Team
Yale University, B.A., summa cum laude, 1991

Bar & Court Admissions

District of Columbia
New York
US Supreme Court
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
US District Court for the District of Columbia
US District Court for the District of Maryland

Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov

Partner

1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20036
TEL: 202.429.8027
FAX: 202.429.3902

Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department. Ms. Quinn-Barabanov concentrates her practice on class actions, mass torts, toxic torts, product liability matters, and other complex disputes.

Ms. Quinn-Barabanov is adept at handling toxic tort and product liability matters in all of the contexts in which they arise, including: single plaintiff cases, mass actions involving hundreds of plaintiffs, thousands of similar cases filed in jurisdictions across the country, and class actions. She has litigated product liability matters related to wireless phones, silica, welding fumes, pesticides, and polio vaccines, to name a few. In the toxic tort area, Ms. Quinn-Barabanov has litigated cases involving alleged groundwater, air and soil contamination, as well as vapor intrusion.

Most notably, Ms. Quinn-Barabanov has successfully defeated class certification in several cases seeking medical monitoring relief. She is a recognized leader on issues related to the use of expert testimony in the context of class certification proceedings.

Ms. Quinn-Barabanov frequently serves as national coordinating counsel for companies that face many similar lawsuits related to a product or alleged chemical exposures. In this role, she has formulated and implemented global strategies for successfully representing clients faced with thousands of individual law suits, consolidated federal multidistrict litigation, and class actions.

As a result of her experience with large-scale litigation, Ms. Quinn-Barabanov possesses particular knowledge concerning electronic discovery and related issues. She has leveraged the mass litigation and electronic discovery resources of Steptoe’s Complex Litigation and Discovery Center to achieve superior results and cost efficiencies for her clients.

From 1999-2000, Ms. Quinn-Barabanov served as Special Counsel to the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, then Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and currently the Governor of New York.

For several years, Ms. Quinn-Barabanov served as the Chairperson of Operation Crackdown, a group of volunteer attorneys who provide free legal services to Washington, DC, community-based organizations seeking to eliminate crackhouses from their neighborhoods. The Bar Association of the District of Columbia recognized Ms. Quinn-Barabanov with several awards for this work, including, Young Lawyer of the Year and Committee Chairperson of the Year. Operation Crackdown also received the Council for Court Excellence’s Justice Potter Stewart Award under her leadership.

Prior to joining Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Ms. Quinn-Barabanov clerked for the Honorable William G. Bassler of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Noteworthy Rulings

Rhodes v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours, 636 F.3d 88 (4^th Cir. 2011) (affirming summary judgment on nuisance, negligence, trespass, and battery claims arising from alleged groundwater contamination).
Rhodes v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours, 253 F.R.D. 365, 374 (S.D. W.Va. 2008) (denying class certification of medical monitoring and common law claims arising from alleged water contamination).
Rowe v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours, 2008 WL 5412912 (D.N.J.) (denying class certification of medical monitoring claims arising from alleged water contamination).
Baker v. Chevron USA, Inc., 680 F. Supp. 865 (S.D. Ohio 2010) (excluding plaintiffs’ expert’s causation testimony as unreliable and granting summary judgment).
Hebern v. American Cyanamid Co., 2011 WL 135779 (N.J.Super.A.D.) (affirming grant of summary judgment, concluding that claims were barred by National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act).
In re Welding Fume Product Liability Litig., 2007 WL 1087605 (N.D. Ohio) (granting summary judgment, resulting in dismissal from multidistrict litigation proceedings involving thousands of claims).

Recognition & Awards

Young Lawyer of the Year, 1998, Bar Association of the District of Columbia
Committee Chairperson of the Year, 1997-1998, Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia
Chair, Pro Bono Committee of the Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, 1997-1998
Board Member, Leadership 35, National Women's Law Center

Select News & Events

Selected Publications

Has Dukes Killed Medical Monitoring?
November 2011, For the Defense
Avoiding A Fracking Mess
September 7, 2011, Law360
Sunscreen Cos. — 1st To Get Burned By Nano Suits?
July 28, 2011, Law360
Nanotech—Small Particles, Big Potential for Compliance and Litigation Risk
Government regulators are requesting health and safety information from manufacturers of nanomaterials under various environmental laws.
February 11, 2011, Industry Week
How to Minimize Litigation Risks of Nanotechnology
July 22, 2010, Bloomberg Law Reports
Can Lead Recall Class Actions Be Stopped At Once?
January 24, 2008, Product Law360
Lead Recall Class Actions Chug Along: Will They Run out of Steam?
December 2007, The Toy Book

Professional Affiliations

Sedona Conference Working Group on Electronic Document Retention & Production
Defense Research Institute – Toxic Torts, Product Liability, and Women in the Law Committees
Yale University 20th Reunion Gift Committee