Jeannine is a founding partner of Flynn, Gaskins & Bennett whose litigation practice includes business disputes and product liability defense. Respected by her peers and the bench, Jeannine currently serves as Chair of the Federal Practice Committee for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Jeannine’s commercial practice includes a wide range of disputes for clients in a variety of industries, ranging from patent licensing in the industrial process industry, to distributor termination and asset accounting in the industrial gas business, to securities and antitrust class-action litigation involving payment-for-order-flow litigation and brand-name prescription-drug-pricing, to hostile takeover and administrative proceedings in the insurance industry. Jeannine also has served as litigation counsel in patent and trademark cases.

Jeannine serves as national counsel in product liability cases across the country and in Minnesota for manufacturers of products ranging from gas valves to pharmaceuticals. She has been admitted pro hac vice in over 25 states. Some of the products she has successfully defended had been recalled and/or were the subject of CPSC investigation. Jeannine has tried and won cases in Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky, and Minnesota. Jeannine has established dispositive legal defenses for her clients through summary judgment and appeal, including under the Iowa Improvement to Real Property Statute (Krull v. Thermogas Co.), and the Indiana Products Liability Statute (Avery v. Mapco Gas Products Co.).

Significant Trials:

Valley Forge Ins. Co. v. Honeywell, U.S. District Court, Kentucky
(Mistrial and award of defense costs in significant property damage case.)

Boykin v. Honeywell, U.S. District Court, North Carolina
(Defense verdict in injury/death claim.)

Baker v. Honeywell, State Court, Alabama
(Defense verdict in personal injury action.)

Ruff v. Honeywell, State Court, Minnesota
(Defense verdict in eight-person wrongful death action.)

Alleghany Corp. v. St. Paul Cos., Administrative Hearing, Minnesota
(Attempted takeover and change in control of major insurance company.)

McKenzie v. Union Carbide Corp., State Court, Minnesota
(Defense verdict on wrongful distributor termination claim; won nearly $1 million asset accounting award on counter-claim.)

Significant Decisions:

Londono v. Honeywell International Inc., No. 05cv92 (D.N.M. 2006)(Daubert; circumstantial evidence of product defect)

Phillips v. South Carolina State University, et al., No. 2005-UP-320 (S.C. App. 2005)(component part manufacturer liability)

Henningsen v. E. Iowa Propane, 652 N.W. 2d 462 (Iowa 2002)
(Improvement to Real Property Statute)

Century Industries, Inc. v. Rosemount, Inc., 2001 WL 1618038 (D.Minn., May 3, 2001) (No. 01-103 DWF/AJB)
(patent licensing transfer)

Avery v. Mapco Gas Products, Inc., 18 F.3d 448 (7th Cir. 1994)
(Products Liability Statute)

Krull v. Thermogas Co., 522 N.W. 2d 607 (Iowa 1994)
(Improvement to Real Property Statute)

Dahl v. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., 545 N.W.2d 918 (Minn. 1996)
(payment for order flow in securities industry)

Patton v. Yarrington, 472 N.W. 2d 157 (Minn. App. 1991)
(personal injury statute of limitations)

St. Paul Companies, Inc. v. Hatch, 449 N.W.2d 130 (Minn. 1989)
(attempted takeover of major insurance company)

Publications and Presentations:

Author, Comment, “Establishing an Objective Intent Standard for the Labor Antitrust Exemption,” 64 Minn. L. Rev. 1275 (1980)

Speaker, DRI, Fire & Casualty Seminar "Code and Causation Analysis - The Defense of Fire Detection Systems," Chicago, 2008

Speaker and Co-Chair, Minnesota Institute for Legal Education, "Civil Pretrial Practice and Trial Practice Institutes," 1994-1999

Speaker, Minnesota Institute for Legal Education, "Civil Pretrial Practice Institute," 1993 and 2001, "Litigation in the 90's," 1992, "Statute of Limitations," 1987

Speaker, Propane Gas Defense Association, Annual Meeting, 1999

Speaker, Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, "Products Liability," 1998

Speaker, Hamline University School of Law, "Deposition Practice," 1998

Jeannine has been honored as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America

Jeannine is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation

Jeannine is perenially named as a “Super Lawyer” by Minnesota Law & Politics and in 2008 and 2009 was recognized as of one of the Top 100 Women Super Lawyers in Minnesota

Jeannine is Chair of the Federal Practice Committee for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Jeannine is a member of the University of Minnesota Law Alumni Board of Directors.

Jeannine is a member of the Board of the Federal Bar Association, Minnesota Chapter.

Jeannine is Vice Chair of the Fire and Casualty Specialized Litigation Group of the Products Liability Committee of the Defense Research Institute.

Jeannine is also an active member of the American, Minnesota, and Hennepin County Bar Associations, and Minnesota Women Lawyers.

Minnesota, 1981
U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 1981
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 1984
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 1992
U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota, 2005
U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 2006
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2008
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 2009