Education

• University of Iowa

  (B.B.A., 1997)

• Northwestern University School of Law

  (J.D., 2005)
  Associate Editor, Northwestern University Law Review

Admissions

• State of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Defense of FINRA, SEC, and state investigations and enforcement actions involving allegations of sales practice violations, including unsuitable recommendations, churning, misrepresentations, unauthorized trading, and supervision.
• Defense of FINRA, SEC, and state investigations and enforcement actions involving anti-money laundering (AML), registration issues, net capital, Regulation S-P, and other non-sales practice issues.
• Defense of customer complaints and arbitrations of all varieties.
• Experience in a wide variety of products including, limited partnerships, private placements, TICs, DSTs, REITs, and traditional securities.
• Represent industry members in all levels of a broker-dealer or RIA when providing testimony on the record (OTR) before FINRA or the SEC.
• Provide counsel to members of the industry on how to properly respond to FINRA 8210 requests or SEC subpoenas.
• Advise clients on how to avoid Statutory Disqualification (SD) and assist them with the MC-400 application to seek re-admittance into the industry following a Statutory Disqualification.
• Assist broker-dealers with the structure of supervisory systems, drafting written supervisory procedures, filing membership applications, and creating general liaisons with securities regulators.

Presentations

• “An Introduction to Crypto for Financial Services Professionals,” Ulmer Financial Services & Securities Litigation Webinar Series (March 2022)
• “What Keeps FINRA Attorneys Up At Night,” Ulmer, Financial Services & Securities Litigation Hot Topics (November 2017)
• “Exception Reports Lab,” on the topic of cryptocurrencies, National Society of Compliance Professionals, 2018 Spring Conference in Chicago (June 2018)
• “Oh no! Is that FINRA knocking on your door? Tips for Navigating a FINRA Investigation and Enforcement Action,” Annual Ulmer Financial Services & Securities Litigation Client CLE Seminar (November 2016)
• “2016 Compliance Outlook,” 2015 Chicago Broker-Dealer Compliance Breakfast Roundtable (November 2015)
• “PTI: Hot Topics from the U&B Broker-Dealer Blog,” Ulmer & Berne, Financial Services & Securities Litigation Hot Topics 2015 CLE (November 2015)
• “FINRA Compliance Trends,” Cetera Financial Group, Connect 2015 Conference (June 2015)
• “Diminished Capacity (and Other Regulatory Concerns When Working with Senior Investors),” Kalos Financial Sales & Compliance Conference (June 2015)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Illinois State Bar Association

FIRM INVOLVEMENT

• Chair, Litigation Support User Group

HONORS

• Named an “Emerging Lawyer” by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company (2016 – 2019)
• Named to the Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Stars list (2013-2015)