Jolina C. Cuaresma

For over 15 years, Ms. Cuaresma has worked on the full range of regulatory and legislative matters facing financial institutions and those who do business with them. As a Federal regulator, she conducted investigations and brought enforcement actions. Along with helping build the nation’s first supervision program over nonbanks, she had a lead role in promulgating rules under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Her legislative experience includes advising clients on Capitol Hill matters such as preparing witnesses for testimony before congressional oversight committees, drafting witness statements and Statements for the Record, and evaluating proposed bills. As a white collar and securities attorney, she represented clients in matters before the U.S. Department of Justice, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Securities Exchange Commission, and FINRA. Her experience handling government and internal investigations for Fortune 50 companies has been critical in her work developing and evaluating compliance management systems for start-up fintech companies. 

Ms. Cuaresma has particular expertise in the intersection of administrative law, public policy, and technology. She is a recognized expert on data and privacy, automobile financing, student loan servicing, debt collection, credit reporting, and fair lending. She has recently been appointed to the Consumer Advisory Council for the Conference of Consumer Finance Law and is a Consumer Fellow for the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee.

Currently, she helps run Georgetown Law Center’s Federal Legislation Clinic, where her seminar classes focus on policymaking through statutory implementation. She also consults with private equity firms, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs on matters related to the consumer financial services industry. As a recognized authority on consumer finance, Ms. Cuaresma is a co-author on two Thomson Reuters treatises: Consumer Credit and the Law and Consumer Protection and the Law (forthcoming, 2019-2020).

Prior to attending law school, Ms. Cuaresma graduated from GE’s Financial Management Program with Corporate Honors. After law school, she clerked for Chief Judge Benson Everett Legg in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Ms. Cuaresma then joined the Securities Enforcement and Litigation groups in the Washington, D.C. office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP. She then served as a Federal regulator for over five years before returning to private practice to help build White & Case LLP’s Financial Institutions Advisory practice.

Education

J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (2003)
B.S. in Business Administration, School of Management, Boston University (1998)
B.A. in Economics, College of Arts & Sciences, Boston University (1998)