(April 28, 2011, Richmond, Va.) - Reed Smith LLP today announced the addition of Joseph E. Spruill, III, to the Financial Services Regulatory Practice of its Financial Industry Group (FIG) in the firm's Richmond office.
Prior to joining Reed Smith, Mr. Spruill had served as general counsel of the Virginia Bankers Association since 1994. Prior to that, he was assistant general counsel at NationsBank Corporation for six years.
"Jay is an exceptional addition to the firm and advisor to our banking clients," said Curtis Manchester, Managing Partner for Reed Smith's Richmond office. "Having represented the banking industry in Virginia for so many years, he brings a wealth of experience in federal and state financial regulatory policy development and legislative processes, as well as experience in many other aspects of financial reform and regulation at both levels. We look forward to working with him at the firm."
Mr. Spruill has authored nearly 100 bills enacted by the Virginia General Assembly on issues affecting banking in the state. He recently served on a five-lawyer working group responsible for making recommendations to the Virginia Code Commission on the re?codification of the banking and finance title of the Code of Virginia; has drafted numerous comment letters on behalf of the state banking association in response to regulatory proposals; and created and filed amicus curiae briefs on key banking cases before the Virginia Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
"Reed Smith has one of the nation's strongest and most highly regarded financial services practices," Mr. Spruill said. "With the rapid pace of reform and regulation in this sector at this time, the firm is well positioned to provide guidance and counsel to many of the nation's largest and most influential financial institutions, as well as to work with legislative, judicial and regulatory bodies on their behalf."
"For our financial services clients, this is a time of unprecedented change, with an avalanche of new regulatory requirements," said Financial Services Regulatory Group Chair Len Bernstein. "Jay's practical experience will be invaluable to clients striving for compliance with Virginia and federal banking laws."
A 1988 graduate of the University of Richmond School of Law, Mr. Spruill was named a member of Virginia Business Magazine's "Legal Elite" in 2009 in the Legislative/Regulatory/ Administrative category. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia since 1999; is a member and former chair of the Virginia Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Section; and is a member of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section.
ABOUT REED SMITH
Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1600 lawyers in 22 offices throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Our Financial Industry Group is comprised of more than 220 lawyers organized on a cross-border, cross-discipline basis, and dedicated to representing clients involved in the financial sector, advising most of the top financial institutions in the world. As well as being authorities in their areas of law, FIG lawyers have a particular understanding of the financial services industry sector, enabling the practice to evaluate risks, and to anticipate and identify the legal support needed by clients. Lawyers in the group advise on transactional finance covering the full spectrum of financial products, litigation, commercial restructuring, bankruptcy, investment management, consumer compliance, and bank regulation, including all aspects of regulatory issues, such as examinations, enforcement and expansion proposals. For more information, visit www.reedsmith.com/fig.