K&L Gates has announced the addition of Sarah Riddell, of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, as a partner in the firm’s Asset Management and Investment Funds practice in Chicago.
Riddell joined K&L Gates on Monday after more than a decade with Morgan Lewis, as both an associate and adviser, before leaving the firm on Thursday.
“We consider ourselves very fortunate and very excited to have Sarah with us,” practice president Mike Caccese said in an interview Monday.
Lawyers who work in the more technical practice areas can sometimes be a little more bookish and closed off on the personal front, he said, but not Riddell.
“Not only is she a great technical lawyer, she’s just a really nice person, high energy and constantly thinking strategically,” Caccese said. “That’s what we really liked about her.”
At K&L Gates, Riddell will continue to advise private fund managers, exchange-traded fund issuers, futures commission dealers, exchanges and clearinghouses on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Futures Association, according to the firm. Riddell will also advise funds, digital wallet companies and exchanges that invest in and issue digital assets on regulatory issues, the firm said. In addition, she will assist clients with petitions on rulemaking and comment letters on legislative proposals.
In an interview, Riddell said she was excited to join K&L Gates because of its “deeper bench of colleagues” with relevant asset management and investment expertise.
“One of the things that struck me about K&L Gates is its unique global presence,” she said. “It has offices and traditional locations like London and Singapore; but it also has offices in Australia and Dublin. And the global footprint is really useful because we’ll be able to help clients with their cross-border issues and we can connect with customers in the other jurisdictions who have questions about access to the US market.”
Morgan Lewis, which she left last Thursday, also has a global presence, Riddell noted, but K&L Gates has a “more expansive footprint.”
At her new firm, Riddell and her colleagues will focus in practice on Commodity Exchange Act and Securities and Exchange Commission compliance, as well as assisting clients with SEC registration filings.
“Having that SEC expertise will be really helpful for my clients, who are doubly regulated by [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] and the SEC,” she said.
“We will be able to help clients with AI digital asset tokenization trends,” she continued. “And then, of course, regulation by enforcement. I’m very excited to work with colleagues who can support these upcoming trends in the field.”
K&L Gates employs more than 150 attorneys in its wealth management and mutual fund practice worldwide who provide advice to investment firms, advisors, brokers, institutional investors, real estate funds and others.
Riddell’s appointment follows a number of similar additions to asset and investment practices at other major law firms in recent weeks and months.
Riddell said the apparent increased trend of attorney movement in wealth management, investment and securities could be coincidental, but there is also no doubt that there has been a relative increase in demand in this practice area as clients in the digital age seek legal consulting and comes to companies with “very innovative questions.”
Many seek guidance on how to properly comply with increasing regulatory requirements or look to lawyers to help with solutions for implementing new business ideas, Riddell said.