Foley Adds Accomplished Litigator Stephen Aschettino in New York

Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that Stephen A. Aschettino has joined the firm’s Litigation Department as a partner in its New York office. An accomplished litigator with more than 20 years of experience at global law firms and in-house, Aschettino will support the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy & Business Reorganizations, Insurance & Reinsurance, and Consumer Financial Services Practices.

Aschettino brings lead counsel and first-chair trial experience in a wide variety of complex commercial, insurance, bankruptcy and products liability litigation matters. He has been responsible for national and regional litigation portfolios for companies in numerous industries, including financial services, e-commerce, insurance and manufacturing. Aschettino has represented companies ranging from Fortune 500 to early growth, has served as outside general counsel to various middle-market companies and has provided individual counsel to company CEOs and founders. He has successfully represented court-appointed fiduciaries in bankruptcy and other distress situations.

Aschettino’s practice also includes a particular focus on issues impacting the growing electronic payment processing industry. His broad capabilities in the global payments space include negotiating and drafting key processing and sponsorship agreements, structuring inter-company transactions, resolving disputes between service providers, advising financial institutions in distress situations, counseling companies with data breaches, and advising on Visa, MasterCard, PCI Data Security Standards and government compliance issues.

“We are thrilled to add Steve’s experienced and diverse background to our talented team of litigators,” said Michael Tuteur, chair of Foley’s Litigation Department. “As a former general counsel and trial-tested litigator with sophisticated knowledge of the technology and financial services industries, Steve has a unique aptitude for counselling clients on a range of complex legal and business issues. His experience in the rapidly evolving electronic payments industry will bring immediate value to our clients, particularly in conjunction with capabilities provided by our consumer financial services, banking and bankruptcy practices.”

Prior to joining Foley, Aschettino co-founded Aschettino Struhs LLP and served as the firm’s managing partner, while also leading the litigation, e-payments and insurance practices. Previously, he served as general counsel to Cynergy Data, a leading provider of electronic payment processing solutions. In this role, Aschettino served as a corporate advisor in the fast-growing global payments industry and advised on a wide variety of litigation, transactional and regulatory matters. Prior to his in-house counsel position, Aschettino was a partner at another global law firm.

“The addition of a commercial, insurance and bankruptcy litigator with Steve’s strong track record of success will enhance our fiduciary litigation and insurance industry capabilities in New York and nationally,” said Peter Wang, managing partner of Foley’s New York office. “With New York being a key market for the expanding electronic payments industry, Steve’s on-the-ground presence will be important in serving the litigation, transactional and regulatory needs of numerous companies impacted by developments in this space.”

Aschettino’s addition follows on the heels of two prominent litigators who recently joined Foley’s Government Enforcement, Compliance & White Collar Defense Practice. Former federal prosecutor Jonathan Halpern joined as a partner in the New York office, where he will represent corporations and executives in internal and government investigations, compliance and regulatory matters. Foley also recently welcomed partner Aaron Murphy, whose practice is focused on FCPA compliance counseling, in San Francisco.