Global law firm Goodwin announced today the addition of Karen Ubell as partner in the firm’s Digital Currency + Blockchain Technology practice in the San Francisco office. Ubell represents investors and issuers in digital asset offerings, private financings and securities offerings, and advises startups and existing companies in the implementation and development of blockchain technologies and tokenization models. Ubell also advises digital currency and blockchain clients on regulatory compliance as well as direct interactions with regulators, offering a unique perspective from her experience in the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Prior to joining the firm, Ubell practiced with Cooley LLP in San Francisco.
Following her time at the SEC, she has worked as a private lawyer advising blockchain and financial technology companies and digital currency issuers on a broad range of corporate matters, including the facilitation of first-of-their-kind resolutions with the SEC.
“Disruption brought on by blockchain technology and digital assets is leading to a multitude of novel legal and regulatory issues,” said Mitzi Chang, who co-chairs Goodwin’s Digital Currency + Blockchain Technology practice alongside Grant Fondo. “Karen’s deep private- and public-sector expertise in this space brings tremendous value to our clients and is a perfect fit for Goodwin’s platform at the intersection of capital and innovation in California and globally.”
“Goodwin identified digital assets and blockchain as technology that was poised to drive innovation and growth from the earliest phases of the technology’s development,” said Ubell. “The firm’s pioneering investment in the space is part of Goodwin’s market-leading Fintech services offering that will support clients across the broad set of industries that these technologies will reach as the adoption and utilization of blockchain continues. I look forward to joining Grant, Mitzi, and the full Goodwin team in continuing to navigate the complex regulatory landscape and developing solutions to support this emerging technology.”
Ubell joins Goodwin as the firm continues to invest in its platform in California, having recently added new litigation and transactional partners with expertise across the technology, life sciences, private equity, real estate, and financial industries. Her hire follows the recent addition of partner Nicholas Losurdo, who rejoined Goodwin’s Digital Currency + Blockchain Technology and Financial Industry practices from the SEC, where he advised Commissioner Elad Roisman on a broad array of legal, policy, and regulatory matters, including proposed and final rulemaking, interpretations and exemptive relief, and enforcement matters. The matters he advised on included blockchain technology and digital assets.
Ubell received her J.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2006 and her B.A. from Duke University in 2003. She is admitted to the State Bar in California and Georgia. She can be reached at and (415) 733.6074.
Goodwin’s Digital Currency + Blockchain Technology Practice stands at the forefront of helping companies capitalize on the pivotal merger of technology and commerce. The multidisciplinary team of preeminent lawyers has advised more than 250 clients in the U.S. and internationally, including venture capital firms and hedge funds, cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets, crypto-mining companies, transactions and payment services companies, and blockchain technology developers and service providers.
