Jennifer Banner Sobers is Of Counsel to the Firm.
In 2021, Jennifer was honored as a Super Lawyers® “Top-Rated Securities Litigation Attorney”. She was also named a 2020 Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, Law360, and the New York Law Journal, all separate and highly competitive awards that honor attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments transcend their age. After a rigorous nomination and vetting process, Jennifer was honored in 2019 and 2020 as a member of the National Black Lawyers Top 100, an elite network of the top 100 African American attorneys from each state.
Jennifer played an integral role on the team litigating In re Petrobras Securities Litigation, in the Southern District of New York, a securities class action arising from a multi-billion-dollar kickback and bribery scheme involving Brazil’s largest oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras. The Firm, as sole Lead Counsel, achieved a historic $3 billion settlement on behalf of investors in Petrobras securities. Among Jennifer’ contributions to the team’s success were: managing the entire third-party discovery in the United States, which resulted in the discovery of key documents and witnesses; deposing several underwriter bank witnesses; drafting portions of Plaintiffs’ amended complaints that withstood motions to dismiss the claims and Plaintiffs’ successful opposition to Defendants’ appeal in the Second Circuit, which resulted in precedential rulings, including the Court rejecting the heightened ascertainability requirement for obtaining class certification that had been imposed by other circuit courts; and second chaired argument in the Second Circuit that successfully led to the Court upholding the award of sanctions against a professional objector challenging the integrity of the settlement.
Jennifer played a leading role in In re Toronto-Dominion Bank Securities Litigation, an action in the District of New Jersey alleging a multi-year fraud arising from underlying retail banking misconduct by one of Canada’s largest banks that was revealed by investigative news reports. Jennifer undertook significant work drafting the briefing to oppose Defendants’ motion to dismiss the claims, which the Court denied. She oversaw the discovery in the action, which included, among other things, heading the complicated process of obtaining documents in Canada and being a principal drafter of the motion to partially lift the PSLRA stay in order to obtain discovery. Jennifer successfully presented oral argument which led to the Court approval of a $13.25 million class-wide settlement.
U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman, in approving the Toronto-Dominion Bank settlement, stated, “I commend counsel on both sides for their hard work, their very comprehensive and thoughtful submissions during the motion practice aspect of this case. I paused on it because it was a hard case. I paused on it because the lawyering was so good. So, I appreciate from both sides your efforts.” He added, “It’s clear to me that this was comprehensive, extensive, thoughtful, meaningful litigation leading up to the settlement.” Singling out Pomerantz’s role as lead counsel, the judge also said, “This settlement appears to have been obtained through the hard work of the Pomerantz firm… It was through their efforts and not piggybacking on any other work that resulted in this settlement.”
Jennifer is a lead litigator in Crutchfield v. Match Group, Inc., pending in the Northern District of Texas. Jennifer is also a key member of the litigation teams of other nationwide securities class action cases, including: In re BP p.l.c Securities Litigation, the MDL pending in the Southern District of Texas, which are securities fraud lawsuits on behalf of institutional investors in BP p.l.c. to recover losses in BP’s common stock (which trades on the London Stock Exchange), arising from BP’s 2010 Gulf oil spill and for which the team has successfully opposed several motions to dismiss the claims and for which Jennifer drafts discovery motions; In re Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. Sec. Litig., an action in the Southern District of New York, for which Jennifer was one of the principal drafters of the amended complaint—the strength of which led the Court to deny permission to the defendants to file a formal motion to dismiss it—which secured a court-approved $15 million class-wide settlement; In re KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. Securities Litigation, an action in the Northern District of California, which successfully secured settlements from the bankrupt company and its jailed CEO worth over $3.25 million for the Class that were approved by the Court as well as the bankruptcy court; Perez v. Higher One Holdings, Inc., an action in the District of Connecticut, for which Jennifer was one of the principal drafters of the successful opposition to Defendants’ motion to dismiss, and which secured a court-approved $7.5 million class-wide settlement; Edwards v. McDermott Int’l, Inc. pending in the Southern District of Texas; Chun v. Fluor Corp. pending in the Northern District of Texas; and Kendall v. Odonate Therapeutics, Inc., pending in the Southern District of California.
Prior to joining Pomerantz, Jennifer was an associate with a prominent law firm in New York where her practice focused on complex commercial litigation, including securities law and accountants’ liability. An advocate of pro bono representation, Jennifer earned the Empire State Counsel honorary designation from the New York State Bar Association and received an award from New York Lawyers for the Public Interest for her pro bono work.
Jennifer received her B.A. from Harvard University (with honors), where she was on the Dean’s List, a Ron Brown Scholar, and a recipient of the Harvard College Scholarship. She received her J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law where she was a participant in the Lile Moot Court Competition and was recognized for her pro bono service.
She is a member of the Securities Litigation and Public Service Committees of the Federal Bar Council, and the New York City Bar Association.
