On October 3rd, Maria Earley, a former enforcement attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), joined Reed Smith as a partner in the firm’s global Financial Industry Group (FIG) in Washington, D.C. “Reed Smith is proud to have earned the trust of some of the top banking and financial institutions in the world,” said FIG leader Ed Estrada. “Maria’s experience and reputation as a leading CFPB practitioner will further strengthen our ability to represent consumer financial services clients across regulatory, compliance, transactional and litigation matters. Earley’s practice focuses on CFPB and other agency enforcement investigations, as well as advising financial services companies in examination, litigation and transactional matters. Prior to joining the CFPB, Earley concentrated on the defense of financial institutions in complex civil litigation matters. With more than a decade of experience in the financial services space, Earley has wide-ranging knowledge of federal and state consumer financial laws, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

*****

Travis P. Nelson is counsel in the Financial Services Regulatory Group at Reed Smith LLP, resident in the Princeton and New York offices. Prior to joining Reed Smith, Travis was an Enforcement Counsel with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Treasury Department, in Washington, D.C. Travis is also adjunct faculty at Villanova University School of Law, and a frequent lecturer at national and regional banking conferences.