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Stacie R. Hartman, chair of the firm's Financial Services Group, is a trial lawyer and litigator who represents clients in complex litigation focusing on financial markets and the financial services industry. Fiercely protective of her clients' interests, Stacie is a persuasive advocate whose targeted legal strategies are based on a thorough understanding of her clients' business and big-picture objectives. Clients rely on Stacie to leverage her exceptional strategic judgment with her substantial experience to achieve winning results.

Stacie leads major cases in courts around the country and in enforcement proceedings before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), National Futures Association (NFA) and financial exchanges, as well as in parallel investigations by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). She has a strong track record of helping her clients avoid prosecution completely or obtain settlements at record-low penalties.

Stacie's recent cases have involved allegations of market manipulation, spoofing, self-trading, disruptive trading practices, false statements, fraud and misrepresentations, and failures to supervise in commodity, derivative and financial markets, among others. When dealing with agencies and exchanges, she ensures that her fierce advocacy takes into account her clients' ongoing and future dealings with their regulators. She also conducts comprehensive, efficient internal investigations in connection with her enforcement work and handles the follow-on private litigation that accompanies an enforcement action. She represents financial institutions, financial exchanges, futures commission merchants, swap dealers, proprietary trading firms, individual traders, executives, and others.

Stacie is ranked among the top US lawyers in Derivatives by Chambers Global and Chambers USA – Band 1 (Nationwide), which noted she is "very sharp, very pragmatic," "a very clear communicator," "very responsive," "very attuned to the detail," and that “she has a strong regulatory and procedural knowledge of litigation.” She is also recognized as one of the "Trailblazers in Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech" by National Law Journal (2022), "Trailblazers in Finance, Banking & Capital Markets" by National Law Journal (2019), one of the "Notable Women in Law" by Crain's Chicago Business (2020), and one of the top 50 “Women in Law” by Chicago Lawyer (2021).

Stacie combines her extensive knowledge of the financial markets and trading strategies with many years of experience litigating patent cases to handle IP litigation in the derivatives industry. Her IP litigation experience covers not only financial indexes and products and electronic trading systems, but also patents on LEDs, electronic communication systems, healthcare compliance systems, automotive suspension systems and condensers, and well-known brands of consumer and luxury goods. Her IP cases have been in federal courts around the country and in the International Trade Commission.

Corporate and law firm leaders call on Gina for high-stakes public relations, crisis planning, and incident response support including high-profile litigation media relations. One of the most widely acknowledged experts on legal marketing and law firm public relations, Gina is a sought-after speaker and media expert. A Fellow with the College of Law Practice Management and the American Bar Foundation Fellow, Gina is listed among the Lawdragon Global 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists to the Legal Profession. She published the 2nd Edition of her book Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers, in 2019.

She founded and continues to lead Furia Rubel Communications, the award-winning PR and marketing agency that has become a leading legal marketing and professional service communications boutique. The full-service marketing and public relations shop has been listed among the leading agencies by the National Law Journal, The Legal Intelligencer, New Jersey Law Journal, and Philadelphia Business Journal. Under Gina’s direction, Furia Rubel provides strategic planning, marketing, public relations, media training, and content marketing services to a variety of specialized industries.

Gina’s legal background complements her unparalleled intuition as a client advocate and business diplomat, allowing her to partner with professional clients to achieve their objectives. She and the Furia Rubel team are always focused on the clients’ unique selling proposition, brand, key messages, and target audiences. As a result, Furia Rubel has developed and executed award-winning programs with outstanding ROIs. From industry-recognized marketing campaigns to media coverage, Gina and her team deliver exceptional results. Gina didn’t discover legal communications and marketing — she just repositioned it for a new century.

While actively practicing law, Gina served on a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee for six years where she conducted legal ethics reviews of other attorneys. Since then, she has become a nationally sought-after speaker and regularly presents to legal, financial, and government professionals, corporations and universities regarding ethics, legal marketing, social media, strategic public relations, crisis communications, and media training.

Patricia Astorga is Chief Legal Officer and is based in the New York office. Patricia manages the legal, compliance and risk management functions and oversees our legal team. Patricia also plays a critical role in the firm’s growth strategy.

Patricia joined Mintz Group from the U.S. Department of Justice, where she most recently served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. As a federal prosecutor, Patricia led several jury trials to conviction and conducted investigations and prosecutions of the Anti-Kickback Statute; health care fraud; misconduct by drug manufacturers, pharmacies, physicians and medical practitioners; organized crime; narcotics conspiracies and distribution; domestic and international money laundering; federal firearms offenses; human trafficking; and child sex exploitation crimes.

Patricia was a litigator at two international law firms, Milbank, and Weil, where she represented corporate clients in all aspects of litigation and across jurisdictions and industries, including financial services, banking, transportation, insurance, private equity, manufacturing, real estate, and media & entertainment.

Patricia is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Supreme Court. She served as a law clerk for the Honorable George B. Daniels in the Southern District of New York.

Patricia earned her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School, and her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from New York University. Patricia is a member of the Federal Bar Council Inn of Court and has served in various leadership roles in the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.

Andowah Newton is Vice President, Legal Affairs and Litigation Counsel at LVMH Louis Vuitton Mo?t Hennessy, Inc., where she manages litigation and legal disputes for approximately 25 luxury brands including Benefit Cosmetics, Bulgari, C?line, Fendi, Dior, Givenchy, Guerlain, Hublot, TAG Heuer, and Thomas Pink. Ms. Newton directs legal strategy and advises senior executives and general counsel in the United States, Europe, and Asia on legal disputes involving consumer class actions, advertising and marketing, product and environmental claims, breach of contract, personal injury, intellectual property, regulatory and internal investigations, indemnification, and debt recovery.

Before joining LVMH, Ms. Newton spent eight and a half years litigating complex commercial cases, including successfully arguing motions and appeals, while practicing at top law firms in New York City. She began her legal career as a judicial clerk for the First Vice President Judge of the International Criminal Court in The Netherlands. Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Newton earned her CPA and worked for four years as an auditor and internal controls analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Est?e Lauder Companies.

Ms. Newton earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and dual law degrees in U.S. and French law from Cornell Law School and The Sorbonne. Ms. Newton is a member of NY Choral and served on its Board of Trustees. She currently serves as a mentor and coach for high school and law school students in the Legal Outreach and Inroads programs.

Karen M. Sheehan serves as the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary of Tupperware Brands Corporation. She is responsible for the corporation’s legal strategy and execution, through leading a team of twenty-five in-house lawyers across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Tupperware Brands is a publicly-traded (NYSE: TUP) global manufacturer and marketer of premium household, beauty and personal care products, with distribution into nearly 80 countries through a multi-channel approach that includes direct selling, e-commerce, B2B and retail.

Prior to joining Tupperware in 2014, Ms. Sheehan served in several in-house legal roles, most recently with Church & Dwight Co, Inc., a publicly-traded (NYSE: CHD) global consumer packaged goods and medical device company with such leading brands as Arm & Hammer, Trojan, OxiClean, Orajel, and First Response, and Alpharma Inc., a formerly publicly-traded (NYSE: ALO) global specialty pharmaceutical company that was acquired by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Ms. Sheehan also served as Head of PLC Law Department at Practical Law Company, Inc., an online provider of legal know-how, transactional analysis and market intelligence that was acquired by Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI). She began her legal career at Lowenstein Sandler PC, an AmLaw 200 law firm.

Ms. Sheehan received her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, and her bachelor’s degree with high honors and Phi Beta Kappa distinction from Rutgers College, Rutgers University. She is a member of the bars of both New York and New Jersey, and is certified as an Authorized House Counsel under the rules of the Florida bar.