Stephanie Colorado focuses her practice on high-stakes business disputes, complex litigation, and white collar investigations.
Prior to joining Hueston Hennigan, Ms. Colorado was a litigation associate at Ropes & Gray LLP in the Litigation and Enforcement Group. While at Ropes & Gray, she represented a variety of clients in litigation in state and federal courts as well as in government and internal investigations. She also provided pro bono representation to asylum clients in deportation proceedings.
While in law school, Ms. Colorado served as an author for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and was a Harlan Fiske Stone and James Kent Scholar. She also served as a legal extern for the Immigration Law Unit at the Legal Aid Society in New York City and a legal intern at the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Experience
Successfully defended Amazon.com and three Amazon executives against a historic FTC lawsuit targeting its Prime membership. Described as “a win for Amazon,” the case settled after three days of trial with no admissions of liability. (See “Why Amazon actually got off easy despite ‘historic’ $2.5 billion Prime deceptive practices settlement,” Fortune; “Why $2.5B Might Not Be Enough In FTC’s Amazon Settlement,” Law360).
In a $10 billion lawsuit brought by billionaire entrepreneur Byron Allen under federal civil rights laws, obtained very favorable settlement for McDonald’s under which McDonalds merely confirmed that it would “continue to purchase advertising from ESN in a manner that aligns with its advertising strategy and commercial objectives,” and Byron Allen conceded in a public statement that “many of our preconceptions have been clarified, and we acknowledge McDonald’s commitment to investing in Black-owned media properties and increasing access to opportunity.” (See “McDonald’s settles Byron Allen’s $10 billion lawsuit over ads for Black-owned media,” Reuters; “Byron Allen Reaches Settlement With McDonald’s In Lawsuit Claiming Racial Bias In Advertising,” Deadline; “Byron Allen and McDonald’s Reach Settlement in Lawsuit Over Black-Owned Media Advertising Pledge,” TheWrap; “McDonald’s Settles $10B Discrimination Lawsuit Brought by Byron Allen’s Media Company,” The Hollywood Reporter).
Represented the co-founder of a dental alignment start-up company in a dispute over the proceeds from the company’s billion-dollar sale.
Secured a favorable settlement for a major university in a putative class action brought by students in a cybersecurity bootcamp certificate program who raised allegations under California consumer protections laws.
Successfully defended against TROs and preliminary injunction motion relating to breach of contract claims and obtained favorable resolution for a major technology company and cloud computing subsidiary in New York state court.
Representing TCW in an action it filed against a former officer seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages and disgorgement, which alleges multiple breaches of fiduciary duties, including sexual harassment of subordinates.
Defended and successfully reached a settlement on behalf of a portfolio company in a breach of contract lawsuit against a major alcohol beverage company.
Obtained dismissal of a complaint on behalf of a holding company alleging breach of contract and business torts in New York state court and in parallel arbitration.
Represented a major financial institution and its affiliated foreign exchange trading platform in a class action brought in the Southern District of New York by platform users alleging violations under the Sherman Act, RICO, and New York common law claims.
Represented a buyer as part of a trial team in an expedited Delaware merger litigation involving application of “material adverse event” clause to target company’s performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of a major financial institution relating to allegations that a former employee breached fiduciary duties to the company and engaged in outside business dealings.
Represented a global asset manager in connection with SEC enforcement action related to the underperformance and liquidation of hedge funds following the COVID-19 market downturn.
Conducted an investigation on behalf of a major airline for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Securities and Exchange Commission closed its inquiry without recommending enforcement action.