Overview
(September 1, 2022, Washington, DC) — Steptoe partner Stacie Hartman has been named to National Law Journal's 2022 list of Trailblazers in Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, and Fintech. The list is featured in a supplement in the September issue of the legal publication.
Hartman, co-chair of the firm's Financial Services Group, has been involved in some of the most consequential multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency matters to date. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in regulated derivatives, she has concentrated her practice on enforcement and complex litigation related to financial markets and digital assets. In addition, she has built a national reputation through work on cases involving allegations of market manipulation, spoofing, self-trading, and disruptive trading practices, representing clients before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, National Futures Association, and in Department of Justice investigations.
The selection committee cited Hartman's representation of cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex and its affiliate, Tether, in a nearly four-year long investigation by the CFTC as influential in its decision. Hartman and the Steptoe team negotiated a $41.5 million settlement in which the companies admitted to no wrongdoing. Tether is the largest stablecoin in the world.
Read about the recognition here.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
The diversity of the firm is a critical factor in its success. The firm’s Chair is a woman; the majority of Steptoe's nine offices are managed by women; the majority of Steptoe’s practice groups have women as leaders; and the firm’s twelve-person elected compensation committee is headed by a woman and includes five women as members. The firm's eight-person professional business services leadership is equally diverse, with half the c-suite made up of women, including three women of color, and other leaders who openly identify as LGBTQ+.