The POWER 30: Jan M. Conlin

“We get pulled in [to cases] a lot,” said Jan Conlin, a founding partner.

Conlin is one reason why. Her resume includes multiple nine-figure patent infringement cases and recently, representing the trustees of the Otto Bremer Trust against claims from the Attorney General to remove the trustees. The court removed one trustee and left the other two in place.

It also includes State of Alaska v. Williams Alaska Petroleum Inc., et al., in which she was trial counsel against a former operator of a refinery concerning the statutory and contractual liability related to groundwater contamination in the city of North Pole, Alaska.

She currently is litigating the breach of contract claim between her client, PRCM Advisers (called Pine River), who sued Two Harbors Investment Corporation, a publicly traded real estate investment trust. PRCM alleged that Two Harbors breached its agreement with Pine River by terminating Pine River as its external manager. Two Harbors told shareholders it was going to pay Pine River $144 million in a termination fee, then, after Pine River sued, refused to pay it, Conlin said.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the Southern District of New York described the case as about an alleged coup by Two Harbors, who allegedly fabricated reasons to terminate its agreement, poached its employees and misappropriated its intellectual property. The case is set for trial next year.

Conlin said the firm has stayed busy throughout the pandemic and the support staff worked voluntarily. Having people working together is important for the profession, she said.

“The greatest threat to the legal profession is that a large swath of lawyers [aren’t] getting that in-person time with seniors. I don’t know how you [provide] this apprenticeship [with remote work],” Conlin said.