NFT Endorsed by Celebrities Prompts Class Action

Barbara A. Jones is Co-Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Global Corporate practice. Barbara serves as Co-Chair of the firm's interdisciplinary Blockchain & Digital Assets practice. Barbara maintains a diverse corporate and securities law practice across industry groups, emphasizing complex international and domestic transactions, including private and public financings, dual listings, mergers and acquisitions, strategic collaborations and joint ventures, and licensing transactions. She serves as a trusted advisor to public and private company boards of directors on governance matters and complex regulatory reporting and compliance issues. Barbara's clients include financial institutions, private equity and venture capital groups, and public and private companies in emerging technology, life sciences and biotechnology, defense and security, blockchain and digital assets, telecommunications, information technology, energy (traditional and renewable), mining, media, entertainment and sports. Barbara also represents Olympic and professional athletes and sports-related organizations. Barbara practiced U.S. law in London from 1990 through 1997 with Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP, and headed the international capital markets practice of Kirkland & Ellis LLP from 1999 to 2003 before relocating to Boston. From 1997 to 1999, she served as Vice-President, Assistant General Counsel and Regional Counsel for capital markets with J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since returning to the U.S., she has continued to actively represent public and private companies, private equity groups and investment banks in the European, Scandinavian, African and greater Asian markets, including China. Barbara is a past chair of the ABA’s Subcommittee on International Securities Matters. She is a frequent speaker at conferences relating to cross-border securities matters, strategic alternatives, and digital asset structures. She serves on the Government of Bermuda’s Global FinTech Advisory Board. Concentrations International corporate finance Public and private offerings of equity and debt securities Cross-border mergers and acquisitions Private equity and venture capital Stock exchange listings and compliance Corporate governance General corporate and transactional matters Licensing and strategic collaborations Blockchain and digital assets COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Task Force

William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules. William’s practice involves all aspects of broker-dealer regulation, including Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) membership, supervision, employment, research, soft dollar arrangements, chaperoning of foreign broker-dealers, social media, use of foreign finders, anti-money laundering rules, alternative trading systems (ATS), exchanges, and market making issues. He also provides regulatory guidance to investment banking clients in connection with securities offerings and related trading issues. William advises firms in the FINRA new membership (NMA) and the continuing membership (CMA) processes. William assists firms to develop or amend their written supervisory procedures and compliance manuals. William routinely represents clients who are negotiating placement agent agreements, foreign finders agreements, clearing agreements, agreements with registered representatives and expense-sharing agreements. William assists broker-dealers and their associated persons to respond to regulatory examinations and inquiries and provides effective representation in a range of enforcement proceedings with the SEC, FINRA, NYSE, state and foreign regulatory authorities. He regularly prepares and defends witnesses in FINRA on-the-record interviews and SEC testimony. Enforcement matters have involved issues including market manipulation, supervision, customer defalcations, insider trading, anti-money laundering, distribution of unregistered securities, direct market access, market making, soft dollar arrangements, cross border trading, electronic intrusion and customer impersonation, sales practices, supervision, private placements, ETFs, indexes, and other securities products. William regularly addresses questions with respect to what activities require or are exempt from broker-dealer registration. William assists firms in obtaining guidance, interpretive letters, and no-action relief from FINRA and the SEC with respect to novel securities issues and the creation of new products and services. William also advises clients on cryptocurrency, tokenization, NFTs, DeFi structures, and digital asset exchanges and trading. Prior to joining the firm, William was a Principal Counsel for Enforcement at FINRA. Before FINRA, he was the Director of the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. William also served as a Deputy Associate Counsel at the White House, advising primarily on appointments and investigations. Before the White House, he practiced at large firms in New York. William clerked for Judge Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York.

India L. Sneed advises clients on matters pertaining to government law and policy, election law, and investigations. India has vast experience as a leader in governmental and legislative roles, having served as Deputy Director of the New York City Mayor’s Action Plan where she was responsible for interagency coordination of citywide programs and managing a multimillion dollar budget; Chief of Staff and Legislative & Budget Director for two City Council Members where she led bill drafting and negotiations and allocated funds to community partners; and as Executive Director of the New York State BLAC Caucus engaging legislators statewide on a wide variety of matters. India also served as a Prosecutor in the Kings County District Attorneys’ Office, leading investigations into officer misconduct and hate crimes and conducting bench and jury trials. India continues to maintain and grow her vast network of agency decision makers and legislators.