Mindy K. Brinker

Of Counsel

• mbrinker@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Phoenix Office

Mindy K. Brinker is of counsel in the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Ms. Brinker focuses her practice on environmental and toxic tort litigation, complex commercial disputes, and insurance coverage and bad faith actions. Prior to joining Steptoe, Ms. Brinker was a litigator at a prominent Arizona boutique law firm representing clients in complex environmental litigation as well as a variety of other civil litigation. 

Representative Matters

Commercial Litigation

• Currently representing MetLife Bank in MERS foreclosure litigation in federal and state courts in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah, including multi-district litigation in Arizona and putative nationwide and statewide class actions. Dismissals for MetLife Bank have been obtained in several cases.
• Represented Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”)  in foreclosure litigation in Utah state court. The Court granted a dismissal of the claims against MERS with prejudice.
• Represented a MetLife entity in California state court in a multi-million  dollar action on issues of agency, fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty arising from the sale of a life insurance policy.

Environmental/Toxic Tort Litigation

• Represented Freeport McMoran and its predecessors in federal court in Arizona in a CERCLA cost recovery action related to water contamination from copper mining activities.
• Served as lead counsel in arbitration representing the owner of mobile home park in a dispute regarding the transfer of trailers containing asbestos and the associated environmental liabilities. The arbitrator found in favor of the owner on all claims. 
 

Noteworthy

• Arizona's Finest Lawyers, 2011

Select News & Events

• Steptoe Announces Promotion of 13 Lawyers
• Steptoe Increases Phoenix Litigation Presence
• “Beyond Y2K E-Commerce the New Frontier”, June 2000, Continuing Legal Education

Selected Publications

• Electronic Data Security and Data Security Breaches, June 2009, ABA Intellectual Property Deskbook for the Business Lawyer: A Transactions-Based Guide to Intellectual Property Law, Second Edition
• Environmental Newsflash, Issue 21
  May 6, 2009
• Manager, Officer, Director and Shareholder Liability
  January 2002, Arizona Environmental Law Manual

Professional Affiliations

• Member, State Bar of Arizona
• Chair, State Bar of Arizona E-Commerce & Technology Law Section
• Member, Maricopa County Bar Association
• Member, Iowa State Bar Association