Alston & Bird is pleased to announce that Vivian Maese has joined the firm as a partner in its New York office.

“Vivian is a true pioneer in the FinTech space whose prominence as an innovative, savvy adviser on strategic, transactional, and regulatory issues to some of world’s preeminent financial institutions is unmatched,” said Tim Selby, Alston & Bird partner and leader of the firm’s Investment Management Team. “As federal and state financial regulatory agencies become increasingly focused on new technologies in the financial services industry, Vivian’s thorough understanding of the issues at play provides our clients with invaluable expertise and insight as they develop a new generation of transformative products and services.”

Recognized for being at the forefront of sophisticated transactions involving technology, data, trading, and markets in the financial services industry, Maese is the only woman ranked by Chambers in Band 1 for FinTech Corporate, Securities & Financing. She is also listed in The Legal 500. In addition, Maese was named a 2018 “Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, and FinTech Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal and nominated by her clients and awarded “Legal Eagle” recognition in the 2017 Markets Media Women in Finance Awards. Innovate Finance named Maese to its 2017 “Women in FinTech Powerlist,” and she was highlighted as a “Top 10 Innovative Lawyer” by the Financial Times in its 2016 North America Innovative Lawyers report.

Maese is regarded as a “go-to” lawyer for innovative and complex transactions and digital transformation projects focusing on technology, data, blockchain, trading, and markets. Her clients appreciate her comprehensive industry knowledge and network. She is holistic, strategic, and tactical in her approach to counseling clients.

Maese’s career spans both private practice and managing director positions, including more than 20 years at Salomon Brothers, Citigroup, NYSE Euronext, Morgan Stanley, and BIDS Trading, a financial services industry consortium for equities trading, where she was general counsel and corporate secretary.

Active in the community, Maese was named a 2018 “Humanitarian of the Year” by Hope for a Healthier Humanity, a New York charitable foundation serving the health care and educational needs of developing nations in Latin America.

“Vivian brings that coveted mix of BigLaw and in-house experience that clients value so highly,” said James Sullivan, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s New York office and member of the firm’s Partners Committee. “Throughout her career, she has been at the vanguard of many of the complex and cutting-edge transactional and technology developments that have defined Wall Street and money-center banking and paved the way for FinTech, and her credentials as a trusted legal and business adviser are second to none. We are delighted to welcome her to our team and excited to offer her expertise and unique perspectives to our financial services clients here in New York and elsewhere.”

Maese’s arrival is the latest in a series of key lateral partner and senior lawyer additions at Alston & Bird in 2020, including: structured finance disputes resolution partner Paul Morris in London; trial lawyers Eric Kuwana and Joanna Hendon as partners in New York; litigation senior counsel Jody Hunt, consumer finance partner Brian Johnson, and litigation partner Jason Levine in Washington, D.C.; consumer finance partner John Redding in Los Angeles; and litigation partner Stuart Plunkett in San Francisco.