Overview
(January 26, 2022, Washington, DC) — Steptoe is pleased to announce five new co-practice group leaders covering its commercial litigation, energy, insurance, and tax practices.
Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov will co-lead the Commercial Litigation practice group with existing co-lead Steve Davidson.
Dan Mullen will join Rick Roberts as co-practice group leader of the Energy practice group.
Sarah Gordon and John O’Connor will step in as co-practice group leaders of the Insurance, Reinsurance, and Professional Liability practice group.
Beth Tractenberg will co-lead the Tax practice group alongside Phil West.
Steptoe’s Chair Gwen Renigar said: “Steptoe is a world-class firm focused on the success of our clients, colleagues, and communities. I look forward to working closely with these new leaders to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth in all of their practices and across our offices.”
Renigar took up her position as Chair on January 1, 2022, taking over from former Chair Phil West who is retaining his current role as co-leader of the tax practice.
Renigar continues: "Phil and I offer our deepest thanks and appreciation to those whose term of office has come to an end. They took responsibility, grew strong practices, and left a legacy. We appreciate that leadership roles can be challenging to take on and require a balance of determination, diplomacy, and dedication. But they are critical to the service of our clients and the execution of our strategy. The incoming leaders will have our full support."
New Co-Practice Group Leaders
Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov focuses on high-stakes, high-profile commercial and class action disputes. She has substantial experience handling disputes in areas including antitrust, breach of contract, business torts, consumer class actions and data privacy. Identified as a Notable Practitioner by Chambers USA and recognized by the Legal 500, Quinn-Barabanov regularly represents public utilities, pipelines, and other energy companies including in matters that implicate complex federal and state regulatory regimes. In the class action area, she has successfully defeated numerous class actions, including by obtaining denials of class certification after evidentiary hearings. Her recent notable wins include dismissal of a multi-district litigation encompassing more than a dozen antitrust actions brought by putative classes of students and off-campus booksellers, dismissal of two putative class actions arising from a data breach, and summary judgment in favor of a pipeline based on the filed rate doctrine.
Dan Mullen counsels clients on energy and commodities enforcement matters, government investigations and litigation, and the development of energy regulatory compliance programs. Recognized by Chambers USA and the Legal 500, Mullen defends clients under investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Prior to joining Steptoe, Mullen served as a Division of Investigations Branch Chief within the Office of Enforcement at FERC, where he helped develop its existing enforcement regime, as well as overseeing investigations and litigation against companies participating in wholesale electricity and natural gas markets.
Sarah Gordon's litigation practice encompasses insurance and reinsurance, employee benefits and professional liability. She handles a wide variety of coverage disputes, reinsurance arbitrations, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation, professional malpractice matters, and more. In the insurance and reinsurance realm, she represents clients in complex litigation before federal and state courts and arbitration panels. Gordon was one of only two insurer representatives who argued to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation against the efforts of certain policyholders to establish an MDL for all COVID-19 cases and successfully defeated centralization at the industry-wide level. Gordon is recognized by the Legal 500 and Chambers USA, was honored by Law360 as a 2021 Insurance MVP for the second consecutive year, and was named to National Law Journal’s 2021 list of Insurance Trailblazers.
John O' Connor is a multifaceted trial lawyer who defends corporations and law firms in complex, high-dollar commercial disputes, as well as defense contractors in national defense and foreign relations litigation. He represents insurance companies in litigation and arbitration concerning property and liability insurance coverage issues. O’Connor served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps for ten years, including three years as a judge advocate lead. He also leads Steptoe's participation in the District of Columbia Housing Right to Counsel Project, for which he has been recognized with an Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award from the Legal Aid Society.
Beth Tractenberg has established the firm's Trusts and Estates Practice Group. As the co-leader of Steptoe's Tax Group and head of its Private Client practice, she guides high-net-worth individuals, families, and fiduciaries in international and domestic estate planning, contested matters, estate administration, and the creation of and advice to exempt organizations. She also provides comprehensive tax, personal, and business advice to families, working closely with family offices and other advisers. Tractenberg was recognized by Crain's New York Business in its 2021 list of Notable Women in Law and is ranked in the Chambers High Net Worth guide.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
