Douglas Yatter > Latham & Watkins LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Latham & Watkins LLP is active across the financial services landscape, servicing a variety of clients including commercial and investment banks, hedge funds, fintech and digital trading companies, and accounting firms. A number of practitioners at the firm have served in the DOJ and the SEC, offering a deep bench of expertise in the area of regulatory investigations and enforcement. The practice is further supported by the firm’s broad expertise in the financial regulatory space, which has recently expanded across key locations such as Hong Kong and London. This is underscored by expansion in the financial services litigation practice in September 2022, with Christopher Garcia and Raquel Kellert joining the firm from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, in addition to Marissa Alter-Nelson and John V.H. Pierce (who arrived in June) joining from Sidley Austin LLP and WilmerHale respectively. The practice is led by Andrew Clubok, Douglas Yatter  and Joseph Serino, based in New York. Richard Owens , also in New York, is regarded for his expertise in white collar investigations and defense and Heather Waller, in Chicago, focuses her practice on investigations by the SEC, DOJ and state securities regulators, with experience in the oil and gas, industrial and financial services and asset management sectors.

Based in New York, Latham & Watkins LLP covers the full range of over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives products, advising on swap, option and structured-note transactions involving interest rates, currencies, commodities, securities and credit, as well as derivatives relating to cryptocurrencies and digital assets. In addition to housing a robust commodities and derivatives regulation and enforcement practice, other key areas of expertise include equity-linked products and acting for US and international lenders and borrowers on margin loan transactions. Rafal Gawlowski chairs the financial institutions industry group and Witold Balaban, who splits his time between the firm’s New York and London offices, is noted for his standout experience advising on equity derivatives. Yvette Valdez acts for emerging companies, financial institutions and investment managers on regulatory issues associated with crypto-assets, and jointly leads the commodities and derivatives regulation and enforcement practice alongside enforcement expert Douglas Yatter. Courtenay Myers Lima advises on the structuring and distribution of innovative structured products, while Catherine Lee and Reza Mojtabaee-Zamani focus on equity-linked matters. Eric Rice, who was promoted to partner in January 2023, is another key contact in the group.