McGuireWoods’ Financial Services Litigation Group Adds Firepower

McGuireWoods continues to expand and diversify its nationally recognized Financial Services Litigation Practice with the addition of Alexandra Villarreal O’Rourke, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) senior counsel, and Cynthia Guerin, former associate general counsel and senior vice president at Bank of America.

In the CFPB’s Office of Law and Policy, O’Rourke advised the bureau on FinTech and alternative credit data issues. She also counseled the director and senior officials on constitutional, international and administrative law matters. O’Rourke served as the legal division’s lead in several rulemaking proceedings and worked on supervision and enforcement matters involving a wide range of markets.

Before joining CFPB in 2014, O’Rourke was with the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. State Department, where she served as State’s representative to National Security Council interagency groups on terrorism and immigration. O’Rourke is based in McGuireWoods' Charlotte office.

Guerin, who joins the firm’s Dallas office, managed a broad range of high-profile and complex litigation during her 27 years at Bank of America, including a major antitrust case involving credit card interchange fees, multidistrict class action matters and patent litigation.

“Alex’s inside-the-bureau experience in CFPB regulatory and enforcement matters, particularly in the FinTech sector, adds an important dimension to our practice,” said Brad Kutrow, chair of the firm’s Financial Services Litigation Department. “Cynthia will bring to the firm extensive experience managing high-stakes litigation for one of the nation’s largest banks.”

“It is a coup to attract lawyers with the government and industry backgrounds that Alex and Cynthia bring to McGuireWoods,” added Noreen Kelly, chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Industry Team. “They understand the legal and regulatory climate financial institutions face and their insight will be of enormous value to our clients.”

O’Rourke earned her law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School and served as executive editor of theHarvard Latino Law Review and co-chair of the Latin American Law Society. She co-founded the Harvard Immigration Project, which provides advocacy services to immigrant communities, including asylum-seekers and refugees.

“McGuireWoods has a stellar reputation for excellence in financial services litigation and I’m eager to put my knowledge and experience to work for our clients,” O’Rourke said.

Guerin, who earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University, was honored with Bank of America’s Enterprise Global Diversity and Inclusion Recognition Award in 2013 for her efforts to identify and retain minority counsel.

“I’ve had the privilege of working with members of McGuireWoods’ standout litigation team and I’m looking forward to contributing to the excellent service the firm provides to its financial services clients,” Guerin said.

With the arrivals of O’Rourke and Guerin, McGuireWoods continues to expand its litigation capabilities for financial institution clients. In 2016, the firm added prominent financial services litigators in San Francisco and Pittsburgh and strengthened its broker-dealer practice with the addition of regulatory investigation partners inNew York.

McGuireWoods has been recognized repeatedly by respected, independent authorities for its litigation capabilities. It was named “Law Firm of the Year” for banking and finance litigation in the 2016 edition of U.S. News-Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms. McGuireWoods also was recognized in Law360’s inaugural “Litigation Powerhouse” rankings for its work in a range of areas, including financial services.