Executive Change: Leading Financial Services Lawyer Joins Covington to Lead CFPB Group

Washington, DC - Covington announced that Eric Mogilnicki has joined the firm as a partner in its Washington office and will co-chair the firm’s new Consumer Financial Services practice. Andrew Smith, who served as a senior financial services lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission prior to joining the firm, will also lead the newly formed group.

Combining his four years’ experience at the center of some of the nation’s most critical public policy debates and his more than 20 years of experience advising and representing financial institutions, Mr. Mogilnicki focuses his practice on assisting clients with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) investigations, examinations and enforcement actions. In addition to his extensive experience in private practice, Mr. Mogilnicki previously served as chief of staff to Senator Edward Kennedy when the Bureau was designed and has been a leader within the private bar on CFPB issues since its inception. His CFPB experience includes counseling clients facing informal requests for information from the Bureau to providing financial institutions and other interested parties with product reviews, mock examinations and other guidance prior to the commencement of CFPB examinations, representing entities in responding to CFPB civil investigative demands, negotiating consent orders with the CFPB, and assisting financial institutions in complying with CFPB consent orders.

“The combination of Eric’s very visible and successful CFPB enforcement experience with Andrew Smith’s prominence on consumer financial services advisory and policy matters positions Covington as an industry leader in the consumer financial services space,” said John Dugan, chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions group and former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency. “As the CFPB is coming of age, we now have critical mass of experience in significant CFPB enforcement and advisory matters in a very active area for financial services providers.”

Prior to entering private legal practice, Mr. Mogilnicki served as Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office from 1987 to 1991. During that time, he engaged in trial and appellate practice in federal and Massachusetts courts. Prior to law school, he served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative Gerry Studds. Mr. Mogilnicki received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Yale University.

“Covington presents a wonderful opportunity to build a more substantial CFPB enforcement practice at a key point in the evolution of the agency’s activities,” said Mr. Mogilnicki. “The depth of Covington’s regulatory subject matter expertise, counseling practice, and related enforcement experience is unmatched, and I look forward to helping the firm build its practice further in this area.”

Covington has long advised financial institutions and non-financial companies on compliance with consumer protection laws and regulations governing financial products—from marketing and origination to servicing and collection of consumer financial products, as well as investigations, examinations, and enforcement actions. The firm’s representation of clients before the CFPB is informed by its deep experience with the banking agencies and the Federal Trade Commission. The firm counsels clients in many sectors, including banks, technology providers, finance companies, credit bureaus, payment processors, financial industry trade associations, retailers, and telecommunications companies.