Morrison & Foerster announced the addition of Jeff Silberman as a partner in its FinTech and Financial Services Groups. Silberman brings nearly two decades of legal experience in the FinTech, financial services, and capital markets space, including nine years as in-house and general counsel at prominent FinTech and financial services companies. His clients range from startups to mature-stage FinTech companies and financial institutions. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Silberman served as global co-chair of the FinTech practice at another leading international firm.
Silberman’s focus includes bank/FinTech partnerships, mobile banking and app-based financial services, e-commerce and marketplace business models, blockchain and smart contracts, crypto currencies, and payments. He has extensive experience advising financial institutions and high-growth companies on the various legal, regulatory, and operational complexities associated with creating digital-first financial products, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and licensing arrangements, and the adoption and scale of online, app, and cloud-based business models.
The addition of Silberman, as well as the arrival of his colleague and partner Maria Earley earlier this summer, responds to increased demand from FinTech clients, who must navigate the ever-changing landscape at the intersection between financial services and emerging technology. Silberman and Earley’s arrival augments the firm’s already robust, cross-disciplinary financial services practice, which includes FinTech, bank regulatory, payments, lending, financial privacy, and strategic partnerships. Silberman and Earley’s focus on transactions and regulatory compliance/litigation, respectively, complements the firm’s strengths and reinforces its ability to advise clients across the full financial services and FinTech lifecycle.
“We are thrilled to add Jeff to the Financial Services team on the heels of his partner Maria’s hire,” said Jennifer Marines, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Global Finance Department. “Jeff is a seasoned lawyer who works with established financial institutions and cutting-edge technology companies in all stages of growth. In addition to reinforcing the group’s ability to advise clients on financial services matters, Jeff’s experience complements the firm’s footprint and prominence in areas such as technology, finance, intellectual property, privacy, venture capital, and emerging company expertise. MoFo has made significant investments in these areas over the past several years, and we could not be more excited to have Jeff and Maria’s help in continuing to grow.”
“With the expansion of the FinTech market, including new entrants and an explosion of products and services shaped by increasingly complex technology and shifting consumer preferences, FinTech companies and financial institutions need skilled guidance to launch these new offerings and to navigate a constantly evolving regulatory landscape,” said Crystal Kaldjob, co-lead of Morrison & Foerster’s FinTech practice. “The combination of Jeff’s breadth of sector knowledge advising FinTechs in all stages of growth, as well as guiding regulated organizations through their digital transformation, and Maria’s significant CFPB and state AG enforcement and litigation experience will greatly benefit our FinTech clients who are interfacing with multiple regulators and seeking to expand their product offerings.”
“I am excited to leverage the firm’s tremendous global financial services platform and depth and breadth of resources to continue supporting the FinTech community with its most pressing legal and operational matters in this exciting and rapidly changing sector,” said Mr. Silberman. “I am also thrilled to be reunited with my former colleague Maria Earley, an exceptional lawyer who shares my entrepreneurial and practical approach to business and legal services, to further expand Morrison & Foerster’s standout FinTech practice.”
Silberman’s and Earley’s arrivals underscore the continued growth of Morrison & Foerster’s industry-leading Financial Services team and capabilities over the last year. Since the beginning of the year, the firm has added eight attorneys to its Financial Services Group, including attorneys with extensive experience at key regulatory agencies, as well as several attorneys to its Litigation Department who focus on financial services litigation. The notable arrival of New York-based of counsel Evan Minsberg, earlier this month, in particular further strengthens the firm’s senior-level payments and financial privacy issues experience.
Silberman has been recognized as a Next Generation Partner in The Legal 500 for FinTech in 2020 and 2021. He earned his J.D. cum laude from New York Law School, where he served as associate editor of the New York Law School Law Review, and earned his B.S. from the University of Maryland. Mr. Silberman is admitted to the New York Bar and New Jersey Bar.