Financial Services Industry Leader Joins BuckleySandler

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Oct 20, 2016) - BuckleySandler LLP, a premier financial services, government enforcement, and litigation law firm, announced today that Heather Russell has joined as a Partner to spearhead the firm's Financial Institutions Regulation, Supervision & Technology (FIRST) practice. The FIRST team combines institutional bank regulatory capabilities with the firm's broader regulatory compliance, enforcement, transactional and FinTech practices to provide an integrated and comprehensive approach for financial institutions as well as new entrants in the financial services marketplace to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving regulatory and business environment.

Russell brings over 20 years of global experience across the financial services sector, having practiced law in Washington and Europe and having served as in-house counsel for three systemically important financial institutions. She has unique experience guiding financial institutions through complex regulatory and supervisory challenges, enabling strategic business growth for banks amidst regulatory challenges, and incorporating novel technology solutions with more traditional financial services in ways that customers, regulators, and shareholders value.

"We are thrilled that Heather has chosen to join BuckleySandler and augment our team with her global perspective, Washington regulatory experience, and practical insights from decades of Big Law practice as well as in-house roles, including most recently as General Counsel of one of the largest banks in the country," said Andrew L. Sandler, BuckleySandler Chairman and Executive Partner.

BuckleySandler has unmatched expertise in remediating and navigating complex regulatory issues involving financial products and services. With the formation of the FIRST team, BuckleySandler will now have deeper, better-coordinated capability in augmenting the firm's core competencies to better provide holistic regulatory advice on the most important enterprise issues. The firm expects to further enhance its FIRST team through a combination of internal resources and targeted lateral hires of talented and experienced financial services lawyers. 

Eight years post-financial crisis, many banks, financial services institutions and FinTech companies are still saddled with onerous limits on their ability to operate at their full potential and deliver maximum results to their shareholders. The FIRST team is being established to help banks, financial services institutions, and FinTech companies deliver an enterprise-level "whole institution" perspective to their regulators -- from risk and data management to capital planning, governance and other prudential issues -- which can significantly expedite the lifting of limitations and empower firms to execute on their long-awaited growth strategies.

"I am very excited to be joining BuckleySandler with its stellar financial services practice and reuniting with former colleagues," said Russell. "I look forward to working with my new partners to build the FIRST team and help the firm's clients maximize their innovative growth opportunities and navigate the complexities of their regulatory regime."

Prior to joining BuckleySandler, Russell was Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary for Fifth Third Bancorp. Before that, she was Global Chief Regulatory Counsel at BNY Mellon, where she created and led the company's global Office of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, managing the bank's relationships with its regulators in 100 countries. Russell also spent five years with Bank of America, where she served as lead counsel for a number of the bank's divisions, including Global Risk, Supervisory and Regulatory Relations, Deposit and Debit Products, Marketing, Privacy and others. She previously practiced law for eight years at Skadden in its Washington and London offices, focusing on bank regulatory, consumer financial services and international corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.

Russell received her B.A. from the College of William & Mary and graduated cum laude from American University Washington College of Law, where she served as Senior Articles Editor of the Law Review and was recognized as the law school's Most Outstanding Graduate. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Claude M. Hilton, then-Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Russell is active in numerous industry associations, including the National Women's Law Center and the ABA Banking Law Committee, which she vice-chairs. She is a member of the New York and Washington DC bars and is based in the firm's New York office.

With more than 150 lawyers in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and London, BuckleySandler LLP offers premier enforcement, litigation, compliance, regulatory and transactional services to financial services institutions, as well as leading and early stage companies, joint ventures, private equity funds and individual clients throughout the world. "The best at what they do in the country." (Chambers USA). Online: buckleysandler.com | Twitter: twitter.com/buckleysandler.