Press Release
K&L Gates Adds Leading FinTech Partners
28 July 2016
New York - Global law firm K&L Gates LLP welcomes Judith Rinearson and Linda C. Odom as partners in the firm’s FinTech and Consumer Financial Services practices. Rinearson, who joins K&L Gates’ New York and London offices, and Odom, who joins the Washington, D.C. office, both arrive from Bryan Cave LLP.
“Judie Rinearson and Linda Odom are highly respected authorities in numerous key regulatory and commercial areas within the FinTech ecosystem,” stated Robert Zinn, co-leader of K&L Gates’ global corporate and transactional practice area as well as of the firm’s market-leading global FinTech practice.
A recognized authority in prepaid and emerging payment systems, electronic payments, virtual currencies, reward programs, and automated clearing house and check processing systems, Rinearson has spent more than two decades in the financial services industry. In addition to counseling clients around the globe — including in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America — on a broad range of payment and foreign currency products, such as prepaid cards, Bitcoin exchanges, wire transfer services, electronic banking, money orders, and credit cards, she advises on compliance with U.S. state and federal consumer protection, anti-money laundering, state money transmitter licensing, and abandoned property laws.
A former group counsel for the American Express Global Travelers Cheque and Prepaid Services Group, where she worked closely on the launch of prepaid cards such as phone, gift, mall, and expense management cards, Rinearson served as the first regulatory counsel for the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) when it was dealing with a spate of new state and federal laws and regulations. She also is a contributor — and past chair — to the Payment Card Fraud Task Force for the American Bar Association’s Cyberspace Law Committee. Rinearson was named as one of the Top 10 Payments Lawyers by Paybefore magazine and now serves as an advisory board member for the UK’s Emerging Payments Association.
John A. Bicks, administrative partner of K&L Gates’ New York office, commented: “We have worked with Judie on mutual FinTech clients for more than a decade, and it is a great pleasure to welcome her to our leadership team for this important practice.”
“I am thrilled to be coming to K&L Gates and to help drive its leading FinTech practice,” said Rinearson. “Both prodigious and unique, K&L Gates’ global financial services and technology platform is one that will surely grow as the FinTech industry continues to evolve.”
Odom’s practice focuses on financial services and payments law, e-commerce, technology and intellectual property law, licensing and IP transactions, and Section 337 litigation. She recently served as president of the ITC Trial Lawyers Association. Odom is experienced in developing, implementing, and supporting emerging payment, prepaid, credit, and debit card programs and routinely advises on financial services regulation and payment card industry compliance and data security and breach response.
Odom has served as lead counsel in commercial, regulatory, and litigation matters in a wide array of emerging payments and other FinTech matters for payments companies, banks, retailers, program managers, payment processors, and technology companies.
Lawyers in K&L Gates’ global FinTech practice advise clients — including start-up and emerging growth companies, payment companies, retailers, banking and financial services institutions, transactions processors and software developers, wealth management and robo advisors, trading technologies, and investors — on the regulatory, policy, and business issues surrounding the industry’s constantly evolving platforms, services, and technologies.
K&L Gates’ Consumer Financial Services group represents clients, including diversified financial services institutions and their affiliated service providers as well as non-financial companies that provide financial services to customers, in a broad range of transactional, regulatory compliance, licensing, government enforcement, public policy and governmental affairs, fair lending, mortgage loan, and litigation and class action defense matters.
“Judie Rinearson and Linda Odom are highly respected authorities in numerous key regulatory and commercial areas within the FinTech ecosystem,” stated Robert Zinn, co-leader of K&L Gates’ global corporate and transactional practice area as well as of the firm’s market-leading global FinTech practice.
A recognized authority in prepaid and emerging payment systems, electronic payments, virtual currencies, reward programs, and automated clearing house and check processing systems, Rinearson has spent more than two decades in the financial services industry. In addition to counseling clients around the globe — including in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America — on a broad range of payment and foreign currency products, such as prepaid cards, Bitcoin exchanges, wire transfer services, electronic banking, money orders, and credit cards, she advises on compliance with U.S. state and federal consumer protection, anti-money laundering, state money transmitter licensing, and abandoned property laws.
A former group counsel for the American Express Global Travelers Cheque and Prepaid Services Group, where she worked closely on the launch of prepaid cards such as phone, gift, mall, and expense management cards, Rinearson served as the first regulatory counsel for the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) when it was dealing with a spate of new state and federal laws and regulations. She also is a contributor — and past chair — to the Payment Card Fraud Task Force for the American Bar Association’s Cyberspace Law Committee. Rinearson was named as one of the Top 10 Payments Lawyers by Paybefore magazine and now serves as an advisory board member for the UK’s Emerging Payments Association.
John A. Bicks, administrative partner of K&L Gates’ New York office, commented: “We have worked with Judie on mutual FinTech clients for more than a decade, and it is a great pleasure to welcome her to our leadership team for this important practice.”
“I am thrilled to be coming to K&L Gates and to help drive its leading FinTech practice,” said Rinearson. “Both prodigious and unique, K&L Gates’ global financial services and technology platform is one that will surely grow as the FinTech industry continues to evolve.”
Odom’s practice focuses on financial services and payments law, e-commerce, technology and intellectual property law, licensing and IP transactions, and Section 337 litigation. She recently served as president of the ITC Trial Lawyers Association. Odom is experienced in developing, implementing, and supporting emerging payment, prepaid, credit, and debit card programs and routinely advises on financial services regulation and payment card industry compliance and data security and breach response.
Odom has served as lead counsel in commercial, regulatory, and litigation matters in a wide array of emerging payments and other FinTech matters for payments companies, banks, retailers, program managers, payment processors, and technology companies.
Lawyers in K&L Gates’ global FinTech practice advise clients — including start-up and emerging growth companies, payment companies, retailers, banking and financial services institutions, transactions processors and software developers, wealth management and robo advisors, trading technologies, and investors — on the regulatory, policy, and business issues surrounding the industry’s constantly evolving platforms, services, and technologies.
K&L Gates’ Consumer Financial Services group represents clients, including diversified financial services institutions and their affiliated service providers as well as non-financial companies that provide financial services to customers, in a broad range of transactional, regulatory compliance, licensing, government enforcement, public policy and governmental affairs, fair lending, mortgage loan, and litigation and class action defense matters.
K&L Gates comprises approximately 2,000 lawyers globally who practice in fully integrated offices located on five continents. The firm represents leading multinational corporations, growth and middle-market companies, capital markets participants and entrepreneurs in every major industry group as well as public sector entities, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations and individuals.
