Deborah E. Arbabi is the managing partner of Crowell & Moring's Orange County office and is a member of the firm's Antitrust & Competition Group. Deborah is a seasoned litigator with a focus on antitrust and allegations of overcharges in a variety of contexts. Deborah assists clients with achieving recovery through litigation, negotiation, and pursuit of claims, and has recovered over $1 billion for clients in recent years. She has unique experience in class action claims recovery, and devotes the majority of her practice to pursuing and maximizing claims in large antitrust and tort settlements. She is experienced in the process by which class action settlements are administered and distributed, and in resolving disputes involving allowable purchases, sufficiency of data, jurisdictional issues, and matters affecting allocations of funds.
Deborah is experienced in all aspects of complex litigation, including trial, pretrial and appellate work. She has handled matters in federal and state courts, as well as in ADR procedures.
Deborah performs work on a pro bono basis, including matters involving deceptive financing, homelessness assistance, domestic violence, and other family law issues. Deborah served for 20 years on the Public Law Center's Board of Directors, Orange County's public interest law firm, including two years as the president of that board.
Deborah graduated from the University of Southern California Law School in 1993. While in law school, Deborah served as the executive notes editor for the Interdisciplinary Law Journal. She also worked with the law school's faculty in connection with representation performed for the Central District of California's Federal Indigent Defense Panel. Deborah earned her bachelor of arts in literature from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio in 1990.
Affiliations
Admitted to practice: California
Professional Activities and Memberships
- Member, Federal Bar Association
- Member, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Association Sections, on Litigation and Antitrust
- Member, California Bar Association Section on Litigation
Speeches & Presentations
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Eighth Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 9-11, 2022).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Hidden Assets in Bankruptcy and Corporate Wind Downs: How to Identify, Preserve, and Monetize Them," TMA Town Hall Sponsored by Hilco Global
(July 21, 2021).
Speaker: Deborah Arbabi.
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Seventh Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 4, 2021).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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Sixth Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 4-6, 2020).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Value Champion: Leveraging Investigations Teams to Impact the Bottom Line," GICLI's Fifth Annual Meeting, Incline Village, NV
(October 15, 2019).
Moderator: Daniel A. Sasse; Panelist: Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Affirmative Recovery – Legal Departments Can No Longer Afford To Be Only Cost Centers," ACC Tennessee Chapter, Nashville, TN
(July 11, 2019).
Presenters: Deborah E. Arbabi, Daniel A. Sasse and Joe Lines.
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"Affirmative Recovery – Legal Departments Can No Longer Afford To Be Only Cost Centers," ACC Tennessee Chapter, Memphis, TN
(July 10, 2019).
Presenters: Deborah E. Arbabi, Daniel A. Sasse, and Joe Lines.
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Fifth Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 7-8, 2019).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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Fourth Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 8-9, 2018).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Business Strategy: Implementing an Effective Corporate Recoveries Program," The National Association of Women Lawyers’ 13th General Counsel Institute, New York, NY
(November 10, 2017).
Presenter: Deborah E. Arbabi.
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Third Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 9-10, 2017).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Recent Developments in the Credit Card Class Action Landscape," American Hotel & Lodging Association General Counsel Committee Meeting, Washington, D.C.
(November 17, 2016).
Presenter: Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Establishing an Affirmative Recovery Program and Best Practices (In-House Counsel Roundtable)," Crowell & Moring's Second Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 10-11, 2016).
Moderator: Deborah Arbabi.
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Second Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 10-11, 2016).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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First Annual In-House Recovery Conference, Dana Point, CA
(March 19-20, 2015).
Meeting Organizers: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"State and Local Incorporation of Federal Requirements," An Introduction to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Implications for Construction Contractors, Crowell & Moring Webinar
(May 26, 2009).
Presenter: Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Recent Legal Developments Affecting Project Delivery," CURT
(November 2007).
Speaker: Deborah E. Arbabi.
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Practicing Law Institute's Advanced Antitrust Seminar on Distribution and Marketing
(January 2004).
Moderator: Deborah E. Arbabi.
Publications
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"Turning Fees into Funds: Maximizing Recovery in the MC/Visa Interchange Fee Litigation," Crowell & Moring's Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer
(March 9, 2020).
Authors: Daniel A. Sasse, Deborah E. Arbabi, Charlene Sun and Christy Markos.
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"Pathways to Recovery in the MasterCard/Visa Interchange Fee Litigation," Crowell & Moring's Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer
(May 2, 2019).
Authors: Deborah E. Arbabi, Daniel A. Sasse, Christy Markos and Paul I. Sung.
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"Maximizing Corporate Recovery," Association of Corporate Counsel, Tennessee Focus
(2019).
Authors: Daniel A. Sasse, Deborah E. Arbabi, Jordan Ludwig, and Paul I. Sung.
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"Recovery – Learning From Experience," Crowell & Moring's Litigation Forecast 2017
(January 2017).
Contributor: Deborah E. Arbabi.
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"Legal Departments Are Ramping Up Revenue Searches," Law360
(February 24, 2015).
Co-Authors: Daniel A. Sasse and Deborah E. Arbabi.
Press Coverage
Firm News & Announcements