Kimberly represents early stage and growth stage venture-backed companies in the cryptocurrency and fintech industries. Kimberly’s practice focuses on corporate formation, general corporate counseling, venture capital financings, as well as strategic product advisement as it concerns securities or payments regulatory matters.

Prior to joining Ketsal, Kimberly served as a finance attorney at Troutman Pepper, where her practice focused on the representation of institutional lenders in a variety of tech and asset-based lending and fund finance transactions. She is an advocate of privacy-enabling tools and an active member in a privacy-oriented decentralized cryptocurrency community where she provides operational and community outreach support.

In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys attending house, techno, and jam band shows, and taking extended hikes with her English Springer Spaniel, Ralphie.

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science, Boston University
Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Law Center

Bar Admissions

New York
District of Columbia

Kiara represents early stage and growth stage venture-backed companies in the fintech and cryptocurrency space with debt and equity financings, corporate governance, capitalization management, and registration and compliance with federal and state securities filings.

Prior to joining Ketsal, Kiara served as an Associate and Legal Coordinator at the New York City Office of the General Counsel where she focused on investigating and preparing settlements recommendations regarding the propriety of due process claims.

In her spare time, Kiara enjoys attending house shows and festivals and knitting blankets for her friends and family.

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Deakin University
Juris Doctor, Australian National University

Bar Admissions

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Zachary carries over fifteen years of practical legal and regulatory experience advising companies, investors, and market participants regarding their compliance obligations under federal securities laws. His experience spans nine years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporate Finance and Office of the General Counsel. Among other things, Zachary served as a special Advisor to the SEC’s General Counsel and later as Senior Special Counsel to Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. Prior to the SEC, he practiced at Latham & Watkins. He is an expert on the federal securities laws, particularly issues around small company capital formation and various exemptions from registration under the Securities Act of 1933. Zachary helped lead key internal SEC investigations in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and was key to many of the SEC’s regulatory policy decisions made following adoption of the JOBS Act. He was the principal drafter of the Regulation A proposing and adopting release (aka Reg A+), as well as the SEC’s proposing release on Intrastate and Regional Crowdfunding exemptions.

Education

Trinity College, London (BFA)
Guildford School of Acting (MA)
UC Berkeley School of Law (JD)

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia
State of California

Janny has 25 years of experience as an accountant specializing in partnerships, corporations, estates, and trusts.

Prior to joining Ketsal, Janny worked as a senior accountant at Wank and Liptzin, LLP a Long Island accounting and law firm.

In her spare time, Janny enjoys making handmade quilts, blankets and handmade invitations for her family and friends.

Education

CUNY, Queens College (BA)

QuickBooks Pro Advisor

Joshua has worked closely with developers, funds, exchanges, NFT platforms, and investors in the fintech and blockchain space for nearly a decade. His counsel draws from experience at tech-forward international law firms Cooley, White & Case, and Goodwin Procter. Joshua has been recognized as a thought leader by CoinDesk, Coin Center, Bitcoin Magazine, and others. He has counseled and presented to the Money Transmitter Regulators Association, the New York City Bar Association, congressional hill staffers, the Israel Securities Authority, the State Bank of Pakistan, and at various international industry events. He focuses on advocating sound crypto policy and advising clients on strategies for managing regulatory risk. His legal expertise focuses on securities, commodities, lending, consumer protection, and payments laws.

Education

NYU (BA), University of Arizona (MFA)
University of Michigan Law School (JD)

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia
State of New York

Andrew is a seasoned attorney who specializes in providing regulatory, compliance, and transactional guidance to financial institutions and fintech companies. He has extensive experience advising banks, non-bank lenders, money transmitters, blockchain technology firms, and other entities involved in financial services on a variety of issues, with a particular focus on eCommerce, payments, and digital assets.

His legal practice involves counseling both bank and non-bank financial services companies on a wide range of regulatory and transactional issues, including federal consumer protection laws such as the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA); the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA); Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDA(A)P); the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA); the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA); the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA); and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). Relatedly, Andrew advises clients on federal and state laws and payment network rules related to payments, including credit cards, prepaid cards or other forms of stored value, and other payment methods. In addition, he is knowledgeable about and has advised on various articles of the Uniform Commercial Code, including Articles 2A, 3, 4A, 9, and 12, as well as state laws, including state lending laws and loan brokering laws. Andrew is also proficient in state money transmitter laws and their application to digital currency companies and has expertise in virtual currency specific issues including issues and obligations surrounding stablecoin issuance and custody arrangements and agreements.

For transactional and contracting experience, Andrew has assisted banks and fintechs in all aspects of their relationships. For transactional work, Andrew represented clients in negotiating bank partnership agreements, “banking-as-a-service” agreements, card network program agreement, and other related matters. For consumer-facing contracts, Andrew has assisted clients with drafting loan agreements (credit cards, open-end credit, and closed-end credit), user agreements, terms of service, and other customer-facing materials.

Andrew has experience analyzing electronic signature and record platforms for compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, including the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) and state Uniform Electronic Transactions Acts. He also counsels non-bank marketplace lenders and banks on “Madden” and True Lender concerns, and assists clients with privacy and data security matters, including compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the CAN-SPAM Act.

Before joining Ketsal, Andrew worked at a top 10 law firm and a boutique financial services firm in Washington, D.C. In his free time, he enjoys outdoor activities with his partner Lisa, caring for his small zoo (cats, snakes, and fish), gardening, and reading or listening to any kind of espionage or cyberpunk novel.

Andrew also publishes his newsletter, Legal-tender: Your fin-tastic guide to crypto & fintech, which covers the latest legal developments in the fintech and virtual asset space.

Education

American University (BA)

Washington College of Law (JD)

Bar Admissions

Maryland

District of Columbia

With previous experience both in house and at a startup/fintech focused boutique law firm, Jenna has advised early to mid-stage companies across a variety of industries. Having worked with companies from inception to exit, she specializes in venture financing, product advisement, contract negotiation, and GDPR-compliant terms of service and privacy policies. Additionally, Jenna has experience with tactical advice across general corporate matters, including equity award drawing, capitalization table management, SEC filings, and software licensing agreements.

Education:

University of Pittsburgh (BA)
Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law (JD)

Bar Admissions:

State of New York

Susan has 15 years of experience as a corporate paralegal working with clients of all sizes in the areas of corporate governance, capitalization management, securities filings, debt and equity financings, and initial public offerings.

Prior to joining Ketsal, Susan worked as a corporate paralegal in the emerging companies/venture capital practices of several large international law firms in Silicon Valley.

In her spare time, Susan enjoys hiking in the hills and mountains near her home, hanging out at the beach, and cheering on her favorite hockey team.

Education

San Jose State University (BA)

DeAnza College (Paralegal Certificate)

Jenny advises on a range of regulatory and legal issues specific to blockchain, cryptocurrencies and fintech. She focuses on issues related to U.S. securities laws, state money transmitter laws, data protection laws, and payments regulatory matters. She is also a Key Contributor to Australia’s National Blockchain Roadmap RegTech Working Group.

Prior to joining Ketsal, Jenny was a regulatory attorney at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). In her capacity there, she oversaw ASX’s implementation of distributed ledger technology (DLT), guided start-ups through the Innovation Hub, and drafted ASIC guidance regarding DLT. She also consulted on GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy issues at PwC.

Jenny is a regular publisher and speaker on blockchain and crypto regulation. She enjoys discussing and questioning dystopian ideas involving technology, 90’s music, and hanging out with her two dogs.

Education

University of New South Wales (B Comm, B Law)

Bar Admissions

State of New York
Supreme Court of New South Wales (admitted as solicitor)

Peter provides regulatory, transactional, and strategic product advisement to early-stage financial technology innovators. He primarily advises companies offering payment processing, payment method integration and aggregation, machine learning, digital currency, and blockchain technology products and services. Peter’s clients include multiple fintech “unicorns” and Y Combinator graduates. Collectively, his clients have raised more than one and a half billion dollars in venture capital funding. Prior to law school, Peter channeled his passion for technology into a career in product management for several startups in the enterprise software industry in Silicon Valley. Peter combines his technology experience with a deep understanding of state, federal and global financial services regulatory regimes across a broad spectrum – bank service provider compliance, money transmission, stored value, prepaid access, unclaimed property, consumer credit, fair lending, privacy and data security, payment processing, international remittances, payment network rules, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing, and consumer protection. He applies his knowledge to assist clients with product counseling, contract drafting and negotiations, terms of service, regulatory analysis, compliance policy development, corporate transactions, and “outside general counsel” assistance. Peter regularly negotiates complex agreements with start-up friendly banks and service providers.

Before joining Ketsal, Peter was founder and partner at Ouroboros LLP, a legal and consulting boutique in the fintech and blockchain space based in Washington, DC. Prior to Ouroboros, Peter advised some of the world’s largest financial institutions, prepaid, credit and debit card issuers and program managers, payment processors, money transmitters, consumer and commercial lenders, e-commerce platforms, digital wallet providers, customer loyalty platforms, and Fortune 100 technology companies at a Top 100 law firm, and at a prominent financial services boutique. 

In his spare time, Peter enjoys building art projects for Burning Man, fixing up old boats with his partner Erica, and taking long walks with his chow-chow Oliver.

Education

Bachelor of Science in French and Linguistics, Georgetown University
Juris Doctor, Tulane University Law School

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia

Phil represents early and growth stage companies in the cryptocurrency and fintech industries including on corporate formations and structuring, financings and contract negotiation. Phil’s prior experience includes advising public and private companies, banks and other financial institutions in a variety of investment-grade and leveraged financing transactions including credit facilities, bond offerings, tender and exchange offers and registered securities offerings. He has deep experience drafting, negotiating and reviewing credit agreements, collateral documents, prospectuses, registration statements, underwriting agreements and legal opinions. Phil has been researching and interested in cryptocurrency and DeFi since 2017 and enjoys advising entrepreneurs and innovators advancing the industry and underlying technology.  Prior to joining Ketsal, Phil practiced securities, finance and corporate law in the New York offices of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Education:

New York University (BS; MS)
Cornell Law School (JD)

Bar Admissions:

State of New York

Drew represents financial service providers, fintech platforms, and money service businesses on anti-money laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) compliance matters. Drew also advises clients on federal and state licensing as applicable to their business models.

Prior to joining Ketsal, Drew served as the Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at a retail digital currency exchange services firm, and also has years of experience working at various community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and venerable financial institutions.

In his spare time, Drew works with the Harvard Law School Mediation Program training law students and practitioners on mediation practices, as well as conducting voluntary mediation in connection with the Boston-area courts. Drew is also actively involved in the New England and New York music business industry.

Education

University of Central Florida (Bachelor of Science)

Professional Certifications

Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)
Cryptocurrency Tracing Certified Examiner (CTCE)
Certified Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist

Laurie previously served as a regulatory attorney with Perkins Coie, where she focused on advising blockchain and fintech clients. Laurie advises fintech platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges, token issuers, and broker-dealers through myriad international regulatory and compliance considerations. Throughout her career, she has helped leading innovators better understand how blockchain-related technology falls within existing state and federal financial regulatory frameworks—with a specialization in state and federal money transmission regulatory matters, including anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance obligations. Laurie’s expertise spans regulation of centralized and decentralized exchanges, token issuance, and smart contracts, as well as payments and gaming platforms, under applicable U.S. state and federal law.

Education

University of Washington (BA), University of Miami (MS)
University of Washington School of Law (JD)

Bar Admissions

State of Washington

Julian previously served as a corporate attorney for top international law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Cooley, where his practice focused on the representation of emerging technology companies and their investors. He specializes in formations and structuring, corporate transactions and financings, contract negotiation, management of ongoing operations, and efficient exits. As an alumnus of seed accelerator Y-Combinator, Julian has first-hand experience with the lifecycle of a startup and enjoys advising passionate entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to fruition. He was among the first lawyers to pioneer creative structures beyond the SAFT for the sale of digital assets.

Education

Cornell University (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)
Y-Combinator 2011 Summer Class

Bar Admissions

State of New York