Stacey Friedman
JP Morgan is banking on Stacey Friedman, a former Sullivan & Cromwell litigation and regulatory partner, to head up the legal team as general counsel of the bank’s recently formed corporate and investment bank division. JP Morgan merged its investment bank and treasury and securities services divisions in July as part of an overall bank restructuring.
While at Sullivan, Friedman spent a year working full time for then-client JP Morgan as one of the principal architects of the bank’s mortgage-backed securities litigation defense. “My family calls it ‘try before you buy,’ but I think it could be seen as the world’s longest job interview,” Friedman jokes. She took on the general counsel role at the bank in August.
The Duke University Law School graduate has represented clients in proceedings involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and the European Commission.
All of that experience will serve her well as the nation’s big banks continue to come under fire for alleged misrepresentations made in connection with the creation and sale of mortgage securities, which contributed to losses suffered by investors when the U.S. housing market collapsed in 2007. JP Morgan has been sued by state and federal watchdogs, most recently by New York State. In November it agreed to pay $296.9 million to resolve claims made by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Friedman, who says she hopes that her work as general counsel will help chip away at the loss of trust in banks, was a key member of the team that reached the settlement with the SEC.
But Friedman’s legal experience is not limited to banking and securities. While at Sullivan she led a team in a lawsuit that was successful in challenging the constitutionality of an Arkansas statute prohibiting unmarried, cohabiting couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. The law was perceived to be aimed primarily at gay couples, who are prohibited from marrying in Arkansas. “That was one of the best experiences and most important cases I’ve ever been involved with,” she says. In her new role, Friedman says she hopes to make it possible for her team to do meaningful pro bono work outside of the bank.
That JP Morgan in-house team has also undergone some reshuffling as part of the bank reorganization:
- Karen Linney, who was previously general counsel of the European, Middle East, and Africa investment bank division, has taken on an expanded role as general counsel for those regions in the corporate and investment bank division. Linney joined JP Morgan—then Chase Manhattan—in 1993 from Clifford Chance, where she was an associate in the firm’s banking practice.
- Diane Genova, who has been with JP Morgan for 31 years and is based in New York, has been named global general counsel for markets and investor services and general counsel for the bank’s chief investment office. The Columbia University Law School graduate says has worked on just about every crisis in the wholesale financial markets. In March she provided testimony to the House Financial Services Committee about the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd.
- Mike Dunn, who has been with JP Morgan for five years, has been made global general counsel for banking and relocated to New York from Hong Kong, where he was general council for the Asia-Pacific region. A graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, he worked for Cravath, Swaine & Moore and for Citigroup before joining JP Morgan.
- JT Murphy, who was general counsel for the investment bank in Asia, has taken on the role of general counsel for the expanded corporate and investment bank division in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Facundo Gomez Minujin, who has been with JP Morgan for 17 years, is the bank’s new general council for Latin America and will also continue to serve as senior compliance officer for the institution in Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia.
