Brown Rudnick's Digital Commerce Practice Becomes Global Powerhouse With Addition of Four-Partner Group

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Rudnick announced today that Stephen Palley, Matthew Richardson, Preston Byrne and Hailey Lennon have joined the Firm as partners in the Digital Commerce practice, supporting companies, platforms in various development stages, startups, protocol developers, exchanges, financial institutions, investors, miners, and a wide range of corporations and individuals working in and around the digital commerce, blockchain and cryptocurrency space.

They are joined by associate Jeff Karas. The move, coupled with the Firm's strong international platform in the area, propels Brown Rudnick to the forefront of law firms advising on issues related to cryptocurrencies, digital assets and blockchain.

"We are delighted to welcome this team to our Firm," said Vince Guglielmotti, CEO and chairman of Brown Rudnick. "Our clients are increasingly in the digital asset space as founders, investors, or traditional corporate entities looking to use technologies such as Blockchain and cryptocurrencies as part of their business. This team of supremely talented lawyers brings the type of insights and skills that will benefit our clients by enhancing our ability to offer an end-to-end experience, particularly for those in the technology space."

Mark Dorff, managing director of the Firm's Corporate & Capital Markets Department, added, "We have been committed to expanding our Digital Commerce practice, and with the addition of this team, we now have one of the leading Digital Commerce practices globally, offering a full suite of high-value services."

Palley, a litigator and regulatory lawyer, will be based in Washington, D.C., with corporate attorneys Richardson and Byrne. Lennon, also a corporate lawyer, will be based in Orange County. The group joins from Anderson Kill, where Palley was founder and chair of the Technology, Media and Distributed Systems group. He will serve as co-chair of Brown Rudnick's Digital Commerce practice.

"Each of these new partners brings with them a wealth of experience that exponentially enhances our capabilities in the digital assets space," said Clara Krivoy, co-chair of the Firm's Digital Commerce practice. "Not only are they world-class talent, but they will integrate seamlessly with our current team. These are exactly the kind of moves that will help us better serve our clients on a global basis."

The addition of this group marks the latest in a series of strategic hires for Brown Rudnick this year. In technology, the Firm expanded its Corporate practice and deepened its bench of lawyers focused on the technology industry in January with a five-partner group led by David Sorin in New York, and the addition of Ben Hron in Boston. The Firm continued to expand its technology capabilities in July when it broadened its Energy Transition practice with the addition of James Douglass in London.

The Firm also added Jeff Cottle as a white-collar partner in the London and D.C. offices in January. The White Collar Defense, Investigations & Compliance practice continued to grow with the addition of Department of Justice veteran Mark Grider in April and Aaron Lang in May.

"We've come a long way this year as we evolve to help our clients solve increasingly complex challenges. But this is just the beginning," said Sunni Beville, managing director of the Firm's Dispute Resolution & Restructuring Department. "Our focus remains on building in areas where we excel. This infusion of talent helps ensure we continue to provide the forward-thinking guidance our clients have come to expect."

Palley said, "My colleagues and I were drawn to Brown Rudnick because many of its practice and industry groups, particularly technology, complement our own. We look forward to working with our new colleagues to offer our clients access to a broad footprint of capabilities in the technology industry. The Firm's deep corporate, regulatory and technology practices, as well as its footprint in the United Kingdom, will be excellent resources for existing and future clients." 

About the New Partners

Palley focuses his practice on litigation, trial practice, insurance recovery and outside general counsel services, with a strong emphasis on the digital asset space and a focus on helping clients build legally compliant software solutions. He has deep experience in software design and development and is well-known in the cryptocurrency community.

With over 20 years of litigation experience and deep technical and U.S. regulatory knowledge, Palley serves as an outside general counsel to technology and media startups and as a trusted advisor to established businesses across a range of industries, with a focus on securities and financial regulatory law.

In addition to his technology practice, Palley is an experienced insurance recovery lawyer, a fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extra Contractual Counsel – an invitation-only association of the top insurance lawyers in the U.S. and Canada – and uses his insurance knowledge and experience to advise clients on insurance coverage matters related to technology and other risks.

Palley has written extensively and been quoted widely on legal issues arising from the use of Blockchain technology, with appearances in both print and television media. He is an editor of the International Journal of Blockchain Law (IJBL), a law journal launched in November 2021 to help non-legal communities better understand Blockchain applications and digital assets.

Byrne advises a broad range of companies on complex cross-border legal issues arising from the use of cutting-edge technologies. His experience includes advising cryptocurrency miners, stakers and farmers, wallet providers and custodians, decentralized protocol developers, hedge funds and other institutional investors, custom software development shops, and social networking companies, in the United States and overseas, on a broad range of matters, including general corporate work, intellectual property and licensing, commercial litigation, and government relations and investigations.

Byrne previously served as a co-founder of an early enterprise blockchain startup and the developer of the first "permissioned" blockchain design. During his tenure, he and his team designed blockchain prototypes for several leading global companies.

Byrne is a well-known thought leader in the blockchain space. He is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences and events on blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.

Lennon provides clients with front-end advice on regulatory requirements related to fintech and crypto companies, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Lennon also handles SEC investigations and enforcement actions concerning the cryptocurrency space. She assists clients in obtaining state money transmitter licenses, the New York Bitlicense, Wyoming special purpose depository institutions (SPDIs) license, and National Trust and Bank Charters. Lennon is a certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS).

Lennon is a former regulatory counsel at leading cryptocurrency platforms Coinbase and bitFlyer. She was also AVP of regulatory compliance at Silvergate Bank, a leading digital asset bank, where she conducted compliance and legal reviews for any prospective cryptocurrency customers. Earlier in her career, she worked in conventional currency exchange as a consultant at FX Depot, and as in-house counsel and director of compliance at Dolarex.

Richardson's practice encompasses all areas of high-tech law, including data protection and privacy, intellectual property, commercial law, cyber crime, and public law. Richardson is one of the leading legal practitioners in cyber law and wrote the first book to tackle cyber crime.

Richardson is a practicing barrister in the U.K., and has served as a magistrate in Central London. He is also admitted to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court for cross-border litigation of insolvency.

Richardson has advised governments on the design of their legislative framework, lectured globally on the subject, and represented clients in groundbreaking cyber law cases.

Richardson is responsible for several advancements in IT law, including the first injunctions served by Twitter, and the first injunction to prevent the use of an illegal bit-torrent. 

A certified GDPR practitioner, he has been involved in the largest and most important data protection cases, and has advised multinationals on their privacy and data handling regime.

About Brown Rudnick LLP

Brown Rudnick is an international law firm that serves clients around the world from offices in key financial centers across the United States and Europe. We combine ingenuity with experience to achieve great outcomes for our clients in high-stakes litigation and complex business transactions. We deliver partner-driven service; we incentivize our lawyers to collaborate in the client's best interest; and we put excellence before scale, focusing on industry-driven, client-facing practices where we are recognized leaders.

SOURCE Brown Rudnick