Jennifer Pafiti
Partner, Head of Client Services
OFFICE
Los Angeles
PRACTICE AREAS
Securities Litigation and Investor Services
LAW SCHOOL
Thames Valley University (G.D.L.); Inns of Court School of Law (L.P.C.)
ADMITTED
England and Wales; California; the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern, and Central Districts of California; the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
CONTACT
Jennifer Pafiti became associated with the Firm in April 2014 and was elevated to Partner in December 2015. A dually qualified U.K. solicitor and U.S. attorney, she is the Firm’s Head of Client Services and also takes an active role in complex securities litigation, representing clients in both class and non-class action securities litigation.
Jennifer has been recognized with inclusion in the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers list. In 2023, Jennifer was one of only four individuals to be honored with the New York Law Journal’s Innovation Award, which recognizes “creative and inspiring approaches by forward-thinking firms and individuals.” Jennifer was nominated as a 2023 Lawyer of Distinction. In 2022, The Enterprise World named Jennifer as The Most Successful Business Leader to Watch. In 2021, Jennifer was selected as one of the “Women, Influence and Power in Law” honorees by Corporate Counsel, in the Collaborative Leadership—Law Firm category. Lawdragon has named Jennifer among the Leading 500 Lawyers in the United States every year since 2021. In 2020 she was named a Southern California Rising Star by Super Lawyers® and was recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Future Star. Lawdragon has recognized Jennifer as a Leading Plaintiff Financial Attorney from 2019 through 2021. In 2019, she was also honored by Super Lawyers® as a Southern California Rising Star in Securities Litigation, named to Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Hot List of the best young attorneys in the United States, and recognized by Los Angeles Magazine as one of Southern California’s Top Young Lawyers. In 2018, Jennifer was recognized as a Lawyer of Distinction. She was honored by Super Lawyers® in 2017 as both a Rising Star and one of the Top Women Attorneys in Southern California. In 2016, the Daily Journal selected Jennifer for its “Top 40 Under 40” list of the best young attorneys in California.
Jennifer was an integral member of the Firm’s litigation team for In re Petrobras Securities Litigation, a case relating to a multi-billion-dollar kickback and bribery scheme at Brazil’s largest oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.—Petrobras, in which the Firm was sole Lead Counsel. She helped secure a significant victory for investors in this case at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, when the court rejected the heightened ascertainability requirement for obtaining class certification that had been imposed by other Circuit courts such as the Third and Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals. Working closely with Lead Plaintiff, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited, she was also instrumental in achieving the historic settlement of $3 billion for Petrobras investors. This is not only the largest securities class action settlement in a decade but is the largest settlement ever in a securities class action involving a foreign issuer, the fifth-largest securities class action settlement ever achieved in the United States, the largest securities class action settlement achieved by a foreign Lead Plaintiff, and the largest securities class action settlement in history not involving a restatement of financial reports.
Jennifer was involved, among other cases, in the securities class action against rare disease biopharmaceutical company, KaloBios, and certain of its officers, including CEO Martin Shkreli. In 2018, Pomerantz achieved a settlement of $3 million plus 300,000 shares for defrauded investors—an excellent recovery in light of the company’s bankruptcy. Isensee v. KaloBios. Jennifer also helped achieve a $10 million recovery for the class in a securities litigation against the bankrupt Californian energy company, PG&E, which arose from allegedly false statements made by the company about its rolling power outages in the wake of the catastrophic wildfire incidents that occurred in California in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Vataj v. Johnson, et al.
Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at Thames Valley University in England, prior to studying law. She earned her law degrees at Thames Valley University (G.D.L.) and the Inns of Court School of Law (L.P.C.) in the U.K.
Before studying law in England, Jennifer was a regulated financial advisor and senior mortgage underwriter at a major U.K. financial institution. She holds full CeFA and CeMAP qualifications. After qualifying as a solicitor, Jennifer specialized in private practice civil litigation, which included the representation of clients in high-profile cases in the Royal Courts of Justice. Prior to joining Pomerantz, Jennifer was an associate with Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP in their San Diego office.
Jennifer regularly travels throughout the U.S. and Europe to advise clients on how best to evaluate losses to their investment portfolios attributable to financial fraud or other misconduct, and how best to maximize their potential recoveries. Jennifer is also a regular speaker at events on securities litigation and fiduciary duty. In 2022, Thought Leaders 4 Disputes published Jennifer’s article entitled “The Globalisation of Securities Litigation.”
Jennifer served on the Honorary Steering Committee of Equal Rights Advocates (“ERA”), which focuses on specific issues that women face in the legal profession. ERA is an organization that protects and expands economic and educational access and opportunities for women and girls.
Jennifer is a member of the National Association of Pension Fund Attorneys and represents the Firm as a member of the California Association of Public Retirement Systems, the State Association of County Retirement Systems, the National Association of State Treasurers, the National Conference of Employee Retirement Systems, the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, and the U.K.'s National Association of Pension Funds.
Jennifer is admitted to practice in England and Wales; California; the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.