Barbara S. Jones

Southern District of New York — Appointed as a Special Master by SDNY Judge Kimba Wood to manage the privilege review of documents seized from Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen. Judge Jones led a small team of Bracewell partners that quickly and securely reviewed physical documents inside a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (“SCIF”) to ensure necessary security of information.

Federal Communication Commission — appointed as independent compliance officer to review and evaluate Charter Communication’s compliance with the conditions the FCC placed on it in connection with the acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Inc. and Bright House Networks

Signet Jewelers — engaged by the Board of Signet, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry with more than 3300 stores worldwide, to conduct a review of its compliance policies and practices relating to discrimination, harassment and retaliation and to identify areas for improvement

Southern District of New York — Appointed as the Independent Review Officer for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union (IBT). In her role as Independent Review Officer, Judge Jones acts as an independent monitor over the IBT, the largest union in the world of 1.5 million members, and exercises disciplinary authority over the IBT relating to internal corruption charges, disciplinary decisions and reviews trusteeships imposed by the IBT over local unions, in addition to other investigative responsibilities.

New York Police Department — appointed by the New York City Police Commissioner to be part of a panel that is conducting a full-scale review of the New York City Police Department’s discipline policies

University of Michigan — Appointed as the Independent External Reviewer at the University of Michigan and tasked with deciding student disciplinary actions under the University’s Policy and Procedures on Student Sexual and Gender Based Misconduct.  In this role, she reviews investigation files including statements and other evidence to determine if the complaint was properly investigated and if the investigator’s findings comport with the evidence.  She may alter the discipline if she determines that the sanction is clearly inappropriate of disproportionate.

Southern District of New York — appointed as Lead Master in the case of US Bank v. UBS Real Estate Securities, Inc. to oversee the review of thousands of loan files to determine whether there exist breaches by UBS of certain obligations related to the quality of the loans

District Council of New York City (the “Carpenters Union”) — Monitorship before the Honorable Richard Berman, United States district judge for the Southern District of New York. In her role representing the monitored entity, Judge Jones worked with the court-appointed monitor and with the assigned Assistant U.S. Attorneys to ensure the conditions set forth in the court’s order were met. 

New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) — Appointment to monitor a mid-sized construction company subject to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the New York County District Attorney’s Office involving violations of the MWBE laws. In this role, Judge Jones reviewed the company’s compliance code, conducted compliance training and set up a hotline for internal reporting of corruption. She also reviewed and approved business practices and procedures to ensure the integrity of all contracts, to include review of the books and records to identify any potential payroll fraud and abuses.*

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York — appointment as an examiner to investigate allegations that the court-appointed Patient Care Ombudsman for debtor Daytop Village mischaracterized conditions of the debtor’s operations in his reports and attempted to improperly influence the debtor in connection with fee applications*

New York City Business Integrity Commission (BIC) — Appointed by the BIC to audit a large waste hauling firm to prevent organized crime involvement and to ensure compliance with the New York State Minority MWBE laws. The monitorship included analysis of thousands of documents and emails, numerous interviews, and forensic accounting reviews of the company.*

Board of Trustees of the Queens Borough Public Library — conducted an internal investigation into a whistleblower complaint related to the Board of Trustees of the Queens Borough Public Library*

National Football League (NFL) — selected by the NFL to arbitrate the appeal over the discipline given to Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who faced accusations of domestic violence*

City University of New York (CUNY) — conducted investigations into allegations of antisemitism on CUNY campuses for the chancellor of CUNY together with Partner Paul Shechtman