NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The financial services practice team at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has deepened its market-leading expertise with the addition of Ryan Richardson as a partner in New York. He comes to the firm from Stripe, where he served as lead global partnerships counsel and was primary legal advisor to the company’s chief business officer.
“Ryan truly brings one-of-a-kind expertise,” said Bradford Hardin, co-chair of the financial services practice at Davis Wright. “He has seen the financial services industry from all sides and has helped drive success at the most valuable private fintech in the world. For clients looking to grow in this highly competitive space, Ryan’s experience will provide extremely useful perspective.”
At Stripe, Richardson led an international team responsible for business-critical enterprise agreements that governed hundreds of billions of dollars in money movement annually, including agreements with payment networks, financial institutions, and key technology and infrastructure partners.
The deals he oversaw supported all major Stripe products and encompassed complex issues involving financial regulation, privacy, IP, consumer protection, data security, and risk allocation. Previously, Richardson served as product counsel for Stripe Payments, helping drive product and market launches across the globe for the company’s most popular product.
“Ryan significantly expands our capacity to handle clients’ most important strategic transactions,” said practice group co-chair Elizabeth Davis, who joined the firm six months ago from McGonigle, one of the nation’s preeminent financial services boutiques. Davis Wright combined with McGonigle, more than doubling the size of its financial services practice. Now with more than 70 attorneys across six offices, the group represents eight of the 10 largest banks and a half-dozen of the leading fintechs among its clients.
“Fintech deals demand sophisticated, seasoned counsel. Together with Don Meier, who joined us in September, and Chris Ford, who arrived in 2020, Ryan will help us deliver the critical expertise clients need,” added Davis.
Richardson began his legal career at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, focusing on consumer compliance, payments, and enforcement. He later spent several years in private practice at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he assisted major clients with co-branded and private label credit card agreements and advised on a wide range of compliance matters.
“Ryan has extensive experience with the complex, bespoke card deals that our firm has excelled at for decades and he’ll help us further expand that practice,” said James Mann, a senior financial services partner at Davis Wright. “He’s also got the energy and personality to help mentor the next generation of lawyers, ensuring we are supporting excellence and diversity into the future.”
“The Davis Wright team has tremendous momentum right now,” said Richardson. “I’m delighted to join them in helping clients of all kinds successfully build lasting partner relationships and navigate the fast-changing financial services landscape.”
Richardson added: “I’ve also been very impressed to see that DEI is absolutely top-of-mind at Davis Wright. The firm’s been recognized for its DEI commitment by a long list of financial services clients—including Citi, Discover Financial, and U.S. Bank—and the impact of its efforts is clear. I’m looking forward to joining the firm’s dynamic LGBTQ+ affinity group and further building this culture of inclusion.”
Richardson earned his B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College and his J.D. from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm was recently ranked as a fintech industry leader for the second straight year in the Chambers FinTech Guide 2023. For more information about the firm’s financial services team, visit www.dwt.com/fs.
