Overview
(July 26, 2023, Los Angeles, CA) — Steptoe & Johnson has expanded its Financial Services and Class Action Defense practices with the addition of four new partners, Julia Strickland, Stephen Newman, Christopher Fredrich, and Andrew Owens, along with their talented national team. Julia, Stephen, and Chris join Steptoe's Los Angeles office, and Andrew joins Steptoe's New York office.
"Julia is a leader of the bar, as well as a nationally-recognized litigator for whom I have great admiration," said Gwen Renigar, Steptoe Chair. "I am thrilled to welcome her, Stephen, Chris, Andy, and their team to Steptoe. I know they will add tremendous value to our clients in the financial sector, with their sophisticated guidance on complex regulatory requirements in this ever-evolving landscape, their experience with regulators and other state and federal government authorities, as well as their top-notch class action and litigation defense."
Julia Strickland is a market-leading lawyer who leads a substantial team on the defense of class actions and other complex actions for some of the biggest consumer financial services companies. In addition to her decades of experience representing clients through dispositive motion practice, trial and/or appeal, Julia has a well-deserved reputation for negotiating and structuring settlements of complex disputes and class actions. She is versatile and creative in developing settlement structure options tailored to the client’s unique needs. She also routinely represents companies in compliance counseling, regulatory proceedings, and responding to claims by federal and state regulators and enforcement authorities. Julia's client list is a "Who's Who" of financial services companies, including American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Early Warning Services/Zelle, Discover, Citigroup, and Synchrony Bank, among others.
Stephen Newman handles class action defense and other representative litigation, including multidistrict cases, as well as proceedings launched by government officials on behalf of the general public. He has extensive experience representing companies including internet businesses, retailers, banks, insurers, and manufacturers under California's Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. Stephen’s extensive experience extends to data security, consumer privacy, securities fraud, insurance and accountancy, and actuarial malpractice.
Chris Fredrich focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, with an emphasis in defending financial institutions and other commercial clients in class actions, arbitration, and enforcement matters. He represents banks, digital payment companies, credit card issuers, loan servicers, investors, and technology companies in state and federal court proceedings, at both the trial and appellate levels. He has significant experience litigating claims arising under banking and consumer protection laws, including the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act.
Andrew Owens is a financial services regulatory and public policy lawyer with deep knowledge of the retail payment card and banking industry. Andrew provides insightful and practical advice to clients, helping them develop financial programs and expansion initiatives that achieve business goals while meeting complex regulatory requirements. He has significant experience advising on the Truth in Lending Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, E-Sign, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Andrew’s experience also includes advising on joint ventures, executive employment and severance, sales agency, governance, and corporate counseling.
Julia commented: "Steptoe is highly regarded in the industry for its litigation, investigations, and regulatory enforcement practices, as well as its work in the financial and digital assets spaces, all of which will enhance our practice and, best address our clients' needs. I have also been impressed with its leadership, steady growth, and strong financial performance. This is an exciting next step in my career and in expanding the services we provide to our clients."
Stephen added: "I'm thrilled to be joining Steptoe and look forward to utilizing my experience representing banks, lenders, loan servicers, investors, and other financial institutions in state and federal court proceedings to help grow the firm's financial services practice."
Chris added: "Steptoe's renowned Financial Services and Commercial Litigation practices provide an exceptional platform to serve clients in the financial and technology sectors. I am excited to join a team of highly skilled professionals and work together to address the ever-changing legal and regulatory challenges faced by our clients, while delivering exceptional client service."
Andrew added: "Joining Steptoe presents a remarkable opportunity to be part of a forward-thinking firm at the forefront of financial services. I am eager to collaborate with a team of accomplished attorneys and contribute to the firm's continued success in delivering comprehensive legal solutions."
Over the past two years, Steptoe's Financial Services practice has handled a number of significant matters including advocating on behalf of a US-based cryptocurrency exchange on the issue of what constitutes "actual delivery" in the digital currency context under CFTC rules, securing no-action letter relief for a coalition of community development financial institutions from the CFTC, and serving as regulatory counsel to the Wholesale Markets Brokers Association, Americas.
Since 2021, Steptoe's litigation team has handled over 80 trials, across 30 different courts and decision-making bodies, covering billions in claims.
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.
