E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase. The BRCA1-BARD1 heterodimer specifically mediates the formation of 'Lys-6'-linked polyubiquitin chains and coordinates a diverse range of cellular pathways such as DNA damage repair, ubiquitination and transcriptional regulation to maintain genomic stability. Plays a central role in the control of the cell cycle in response to DNA damage. Acts by mediating ubiquitin E3 ligase activity that is required for its tumor suppressor function. Also forms a heterodimer with CSTF1/CSTF-50 to modulate mRNA processing and RNAP II stability by inhibiting pre-mRNA 3' cleavage. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:12890688, ECO:0000269|PubMed:14976165, ECO:0000269|PubMed:20351172}. This is the function of BARD1 (BRCA1 associated RING domain 1, ENSG00000138376).