Reid Herlihy has joined the mortgage regulatory practice at Mitchell Sandler, a boutique financial services law firm founded in 2019 by a group of prominent Buckley Sandler lawyers, as a partner.
In addition, Seth Waxman has joined the firm as a partner, Sean Hennessy has joined as counsel, and Chloé Dolsenhe has joined as an associate.
Herlihy joins the firm from Ballard Spahr, bringing 14 years of experience on mortgage regulatory matters. He advises banks, mortgage companies, investment banks, debt collection firms, secondary market investors, and other financial services companies on state and federal regulatory compliance issues, disclosures, advertising, licensing, examinations, and enforcement matters.
Herlihy is a frequent speaker on emerging issues in the mortgage industry and a respected thought leader on the mortgage servicing rules, fair debt collection, loss mitigation, and foreclosure procedures.
“The mortgage industry has reached a critical inflection point, where lenders and servicers are assessing whether to acquire, sell, merge, or maintain status quo,” says Daniella Casseres, the mortgage regulatory practice group’s leader and management committee member, in a release. “Each of those paths presents opportunities and challenges for our clients who rely on us to provide practical legal advice that aligns with their business strategies. We strive to maintain a bench of industry leading attorneys who can offer our clients different perspectives in this competitive and rapidly changing environment. Reid’s deep mortgage servicing expertise will enhance the strategic advice we provide to clients and complements our litigation practice.”
The firm is also launching a new government investigations and white collar criminal practice group that will be led by Waxman.
Waxman is a veteran federal prosecutor with 30 years of experience. He has 13 years of experience at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including eight years leading fraud and public corruption prosecutions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is a nationally recognized criminal defense lawyer known for his representation of Fortune 500 companies and corporate leaders in all manner of government investigations and prosecutions.
Waxman also has broad experience conducting corporate internal investigations in response to government inquiries, whistleblower reports, and other corporate events, which has earned him multiple appointments by judges to serve as a receiver overseeing complex fraud cases involving a wide range of financial transactions.
“Seth brings to Mitchell Sandler the ideal combination of prosecutorial and criminal defense experience across a variety of sectors, including banking, mortgage services, and securities,” says Andrea Mitchell, co-founder and managing partner of Mitchell Sandler. “With the new administration’s shift in enforcement priorities and practices, Seth’s vast experience and strategic foresight will be an invaluable resource for our clients as we guide them through their greatest challenges.”
Hennessy joins as counsel in the Civil Litigation group. He most recently served as a trial attorney at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he led investigations into financial fraud, misappropriation, market manipulation, and other regulatory violations.
Since October 2021, Hennessy has led investigations involving financial fraud, misappropriation, market manipulation, compliance failures, and other suspected violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and related regulations. Hennessy also served on the CFTC’s Digital Assets Task Force and was a key advisor to leadership on emerging legal and technological developments in crypto enforcement and regulation. Prior to joining the CFTC, Hennessy was a senior associate at Arnold & Porter, where he worked on litigation and government investigations for nine years.
Dolsenhe has been added to the firm’s banking regulatory practice as an associate. She previously served as an enforcement attorney in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She worked on multiple enforcement and litigation matters involving third-party risk management practices, anti-money laundering claims, whistleblower complaints, crypto-related activities, the Bank Holding Company Act, and safety and soundness claims. She also led the enforcement unit’s Artificial Intelligence Working Group and Machine Learning Enhancement Working Group as a founding member of both initiatives. Prior to joining the OCC through its Honors Program, Dolsenhe was an associate in the White Collar Defense & Investigations practice group at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.