Overview
Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov is the co-leader of Steptoe's Commercial Litigation Group. She focuses on high-stakes, high-profile commercial and class action disputes. Jennifer achieves successful results by implementing purposeful, pragmatic and creative strategies developed through continuous communication and collaboration with her clients.
As leader of the firm's Energy Litigation practice, Jennifer regularly represents public utilities, pipelines, and other energy companies in commercial disputes. She has particular experience navigating the intersection of business disputes with regulatory obligations and tariffs.
In addition, Jennifer leads Steptoe's Class Action practice. She is a recognized leader on class certification issues who has successfully defended companies in the technology, consumer products, retail and other industries. Jennifer has defeated numerous proposed class actions, including several after lengthy evidentiary certification hearings. Jennifer has particular experience with statutory damage privacy-related class actions, including those brought under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act and the federal Video Privacy Protection Act.
A skilled litigator, Jennifer has substantial experience handling commercial disputes in areas such as: antitrust, breach of contract, business torts, fraud, fiduciary duty and derivative claims, covenants not to compete, trade secrets, and claims under the federal securities laws and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
As the former co-chair of Steptoe's Women's Forum, Jennifer organized a variety of programs to cultivate the unique perspectives of the firm's women lawyers and professionals.
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Supreme Court of the United States
- US District Court, District of Columbia
- US District Court, District of Maryland
- US District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- US District Court, Southern District of New York
- US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia
- Hon. William G. Bassler, US District Court, District of New Jersey, 1994-1995
- J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1994, cum laude; Winner, Beaudry Cup Moot Court Competition, National Moot Court Team; Articles Editor, Law & Policy in International Business
- B.A., Yale University, 1991, summa cum laude
Areas of Work
Representative Matters
- Represent operator of crude-by-rail transloading facility pursuing fraudulent transfer claims arising from breach of a take-or-pay contract; obtained summary judgment on counterclaims alleging that various facility defects impeded performance. Awaiting a decision on affirmative claims after a four week bench trial.
- Represent educational technology company in proposed class action alleging that use of the Meta pixel web tracking technology caused violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act.
- Obtained dismissal of a multi-district litigation encompassing more than a dozen antitrust actions brought by putative classes of students and off-campus booksellers alleging an unlawful conspiracy among publishers and on-campus bookstore operators to fix prices and eliminate competition in the market for higher education course materials. In Re Inclusive Access Course Materials Litig., 2021 WL 2419528 (S.D.N.Y.).
- Obtained dismissal of two putative class actions arising from a data breach based on lack of Article III standing.
- Successfully defended multiple companies against putative class actions alleging violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
- Won summary judgment in favor of pipeline company against claims alleging that in-line blending of butane into gasoline degraded product quality in violation of the Carmack Amendment. Court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of the pipeline holding that its blending practices were permitted by its federally-approved tariff and dismissed all of plaintiff's claims based on the filed rate doctrine. George E. Warren LLC v. Colonial Pipeline Co., 503 F. Supp. 3d 239 (D. N.J. 2020), aff’d 50 F.4th 391 (3d Cir. 2022).
- Won summary judgment on antitrust monopoly and unfair competition claims alleging that public utility engaged in anti-competitive conduct by, among other things, restricting interconnection access and engaging in predatory pricing. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC v. NTE Carolinas II, LLC, 608 F. Supp. 3d 298 (W.D.N.C. 2022).
- Successfully defeated class certification of claims brought against a major petrochemical company by more than 450 property owners claiming that the detection of termiticide chemicals in potable wells and soil diminished their property values. The denial of class certification followed several other favorable rulings, including dismissal of claims asserted under Florida's Water Quality Assurance Act, denial of plaintiffs' motion to pursue punitive damages, and plaintiffs' voluntary dismissal of their medical monitoring claims.
- Represented the Chief Executive Officer of a leading data analytics company in connection with an audit committee investigation of accounting practices and subsequent series of securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits.
- Represented a major southeastern utility in a series of disputes with a qualifying facility alleging violations of the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA), breaches of contract and violations of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. In the most recent dispute, obtained a favorable, precedent-setting ruling holding that the primary jurisdiction stay entered by the district court at the utility’s request to permit ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was consistent with PURPA. Occidental Chemical Corp. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission, 810 F.3d 299 (5th 2016). This ruling eliminated potential disruption to the utility’s operations in a regional transmission organization.
- Won the largest US Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division investigation in the electric power industry in the last 10 years. After more than two years of investigation and review of millions of documents, the DOJ readied to bring a landmark monopolization case challenging our client utility's generation procurement and transmission planning practices, and threatening divestiture. While preparing for litigation, successfully convinced the DOJ to issue a "no action" determination, permitting the proposed acquisitions to proceed.
- Successfully defended manufacturer of online video streaming technology against claims alleging theft of trade secrets.
- Defended communications equipment manufacturer against whistleblower and wrongful termination claims brought by former senior executive; defense involved depositions of senior management and prominent members of the Board of Directors.
- Served as national coordinating counsel for major wireless carrier in several class actions alleging diminished value and other economic injuries as a result of alleged product defects involving complex preemption and jurisdictional issues.
Speaking Engagements
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“CA Session - The Rise of Mass Arbitration & Class Actions,” Epiq’s Mass & Class, March 6, 2024
- "The Alphabet Soup of Privacy Claims in Litigation and Mass Arbitration: BIPA, VPPA and CIPA," Restaurant Law Center, August 31, 2023
- "Biometric Roadblocks in the Transportation Industry," Association of Transportation Law Professionals, June 25, 2023
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"The Future of Privacy Class Action Suits," Women, Influence & Power In Law, October 18, 2019
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"Environmental Class Actions in the United States," National Conference on Class Actions - Recent Developments in Québec, in Canada and in the US," March 2019
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"Pipeline Accidents: Civil Litigation," Lawline webcast, November 15, 2018
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"An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove: Collective Redress in Europe," DRI's Hot Topics in International Dispute Resolution 2018, June 13, 2018
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"Class Actions: Latest Developments in Law and Practice," DRI's 2017 Class Actions Seminar, Washington, DC, July 12, 2017
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"Can Plaintiffs Force an Appeals Court to Reconsider a Class Certification Denial by Voluntarily Dismissing Their Claim with Prejudice? Examining the Potential Implications of the Supreme Court Decision in Microsoft v. Baker," ACI's 2nd Cross-Industry Interdisciplinary Summit on Defending and Managing Class Actions, April 3, 2017
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"Leveraging Daubert Motions in Class Certification: Using or Challenging Expert Testimony Amid Divergent Court Standards," Strafford Publications, February 16, 2017
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"Slack Fill Packaging Claims - Empty Threats or Full of Danger," DRI's Product Liability Conference, Las Vegas, NV, February 9, 2017
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"The War on the Corps," AAR, October 25, 2016
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"Class Actions: Latest Developments in Law and Practice," DRI's 2016 Class Actions Seminar, Washington, DC, July 21, 2016
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"Class Actions & The US Supreme Court's 2015-2016 Term," DRI's 2016 Product Liability Conference, New Orleans, LA, February 4, 2016
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"Practical Approaches to Defending Class Actions," DRI's Class Action Conference, July 23, 2015
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"Media Crush and Ethics," Mass Torts Judicial Forum with Hon. Marina Corodemus, April 17, 2015
News & Publications
StepTechToe
April 5, 2024
Client Alerts
March 29, 2024
StepTechToe
January 18, 2024
Publications
Wisconsin Court Reaffirms Liability Limitation’s Preemptive Force
Bloomberg Law
December 7, 2023
Publications
Navigating the Roadblocks of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act
Association of Transportation Law Professionals’ Journal of Transportation Law, Logistics, and Policy Volume 90, Number 1
July 2023
By: Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov, Zachary B. Schreiber, Onika K. Williams
Client Alerts
May 25, 2023
Client Alerts
Third Circuit Bars Claims Against Colonial Based on Filed Rate Doctrine
October 7, 2022
By: Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov, Shaun Boedicker, Mark C. Savignac
Events
Seminars & Events
Advertising and Consumer Protection Legal Forum
May 9, 2024
Speakers: Joan Baughan, Eric Berman, Daniel Blynn, Ruxandra Cana, Tod Cohen, Christopher R. Fredrich, Surya Kundu, Joseph McClure, Stephen J. Newman, Jeff Potts, Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov, Daniel C. Rubenstein, Julia B. Strickland, Emily Tifft
Webinars
Stand Up, March Forward, Be Counted
October 26, 2020
Speakers: Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov, Jessica Bennett (New York Times), Celina Stewart (League of Women Voters), Sally Roesch Wagner (Syracuse University)
Webinars
Pipeline Accidents: Are You Prepared?
April 5, 2017
Speakers: Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov, Robert L. Shuftan, Steven Reed
Noteworthy
- Super Lawyers, Washington, DC, Class Action; Defense: Energy and Natural Resources (2020-2023)
- Best Lawyers in America, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action: Defendants (2020-2023)
- Legal 500 US, Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes (2019-2020)
- Legal 500 US, Litigation: Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense, Toxic Tort; Energy: Litigation (2015-2016, 2022)
- Burton Award for Achievement in Legal Writing (2012, 2017)
- Past Board Member, Leadership 35, National Women's Law Center
- Young Lawyer of the Year, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1998)
Previous Employment
- Special Counsel, Hon. Andrew M. Cuomo, Secretary, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Professional Affiliations
- Chair, Defense Research Institute’s National Class Action Conference (2017)
- Chair, Chemical & Toxic Torts SLG, Defense Research Institute Product Liability Committee (2017)
- Retired Girl Scout Troop Leader
- Co-Chair, Yale University 30th Reunion; Greater DC Advisory Group Member, Yale For Humanity Campaign