Jean is a key player in leading Morgan & Morgan’s Complex Litigation Group. Jean is one of the few lawyers in the group whose caseload spans multiple disciplines, including mass torts, data privacy, consumer goods, medical products, and environmental disasters.
In November 2024, after a contested leadership process, Jean was the only woman appointed as interim co-lead class counsel in consolidated litigation arising from the BioLab chemical plant fire in Conyers, GA that released a plume of toxic substances into surrounding communities. Shepresently leads a class action against CSX for chemical exposure and property damage stemming from a train derailment that occurred in 2023. Webb et al. v. CSX Transportation, Inc. Case No. 6:23-cv-00211-REW (E.D. Ky.).
Over the last few years, Jean has lead some of the biggest cybersecurity victories, including Inre: Morgan Stanley Data Security Litigation (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:20-cv-05914), which resulted in a $60 million common fund settlement for 15 million class members. Jean also obtained a landmark federal ruling in the Eleventh Circuit that strengthens data privacy protections. The U.S. Supreme Court effectively upheld this decision in April 2024 when it declined to hear an appeal in Brinker International, Inc. v. Steinmetz et al. This case arose from a 2017 data breach of Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s Grill & Bar. In 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued a first-of-its-kind order certifying the class of impacted consumers. Brinker appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which agreed that one of the named plaintiffs had standing and that the case could continue. The ruling means plaintiffs are entitled to compensation because of the damages arising from data breaches and enshrines in federal case law a path toward justice for everyday people when corporations mishandle their sensitive information. Jean argued both the motion for class certification as well as the appeal before the Eleventh Circuit.
Beyond her work at Morgan & Morgan, Jean founded and organized the Class of Our Own summit, an invitation-only event for female attorneys handling plaintiff class actions. Last year’sconference in Nashville featured a table chat with U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, Chair of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), as well as a private listening-room style performance by Grammy-winning country artist Natalie Hemby. More than 120 women from multiple class-action disciplines came from all over the country to attend the successfulannual event.
