Ethical Considerations in Settling a Class Action Update

Deborah Renner focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, including the defense of consumer fraud, data breach, ERISA, and securities class actions. Deborah has successfully defended numerous companies in nationwide, multidistrict and state class actions. She has defeated class certification in courts around the country and has won the dismissal of class claims at the outset of numerous actions. Deborah frequently advises companies on class action defense and regulatory inquiries. Among her areas of knowledge and experience, Deborah is certified in information privacy.

Deborah leads BakerHostetler's class action practice in New York and is a founder and former editor of BakerHostetler's Class Action Lawsuit Defense blog. She also serves as the Pro Bono Coordinator for the New York office, and is on the firm's Diversity Committee.

Experience

• Won complete dismissal of data breach class action. Polanco v. Omnicell, Inc., 2013 WL 6823265 (D.N.J. Dec. 26, 2013).
• Represented amicus on winning side in seminal class action cases in U.S. Supreme Court. Standard Fire v. Knowles, 133 S. Ct. 1345 (2013);Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013).
• Represents broker-dealer in securities class action.
• Represents company in Civil Investigative Demand by state attorney general regarding data privacy and security practices.
• Won summary judgment in a putative class action concerning alleged fraud in the pricing of long-term care insurance. Rakes v. Life Investors Ins. Co. of America, 2008 WL 2158717 (N.D. Iowa June 20, 2008), aff'd, 2009 WL 2981976 (8th Cir. Sept. 18, 2009).
• Won the complete dismissal of a securities fraud class action alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Medis Investor Group v. Medis Technologies, Ltd., 586 F.Supp.2d 136 (S.D.N.Y. 2008), aff'd, 2009 WL 2171277 (2d Cir. July 21, 2009).
• Since 2009, as a lead attorney on the BakerHostetler team that serves as counsel to Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Deborah managed a team of attorneys in Picard v. JPMorgan Chase, which resolved in two settlements totaling $543 million for the SIPA Trustee and class action plaintiffs and which led to a $1.7 billion forfeiture to the United States Attorney's Office. In addition, Deborah has focused her efforts on enforcing the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's automatic stay and otherwise seeking injunctions to stop class actions and other cases from proceeding. Deborah's reported decisions include: 
  • Picard v. Fox, 429 B.R. 423 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2010), aff'd, In re Madoff, 848 F.Supp.2d 469 (S.D.N.Y. 2012), aff'd, 740 F.3d 81 (2d Cir. 2014).
  • Picard v. Stahl, 443 B.R. 295 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2011), aff'd, In re Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC, 2011 WL 7981599 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 5, 2011), aff'd, The Lautenberg Found. v. Picard, 512 Fed.Appx. 18 (2d Cir. 2013).
  • Picard v. Maxam Absolute Return Fund, L.P., 460 B.R. 106 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2011), aff'd, 474 B.R. 76 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).
  • In re Bernard L. Madoff, 477 B.R. 351 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2012), aff'd, 2013 WL 551027 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30. 2013).

   

  Recognition

  • New York Metro "Super Lawyer"

   

  Memberships

  • American Bar Association, Section of Litigation Class Action and Derivative Suits 
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals 
  • Certified Information Privacy Professional (U.S.)
  • Defense Research Institute, Appellate Advocacy Section

   

  Pro Bono

  • Deborah frequently works with Immigration Equality, helping gay, lesbian, transgendered and HIV positive individuals gain asylum in the United States.
  • She works closely with the Brooklyn Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyers Association, and has served on its Advisory Board.

  Services

  • Appellate and Major Motions
  • Class Action Defense
  • Complex Commercial Litigation

  Prior Positions

  • Fordham University Law School: Adjunct Assistant Professor of Class Action Law (2002 to 2006)

  Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
  • New York
  • District of Columbia [Inactive]

  Education

  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1992, cum laude
  • M.A., Princeton University, 1987
  • B.A., The Johns Hopkins University, 1984, with honors