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Aaron Marienthal

Aaron R. Marienthal Partner

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San Francisco T +1 415 490 0919 F fax +1 415 844 1919
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Aaron is a strategic high-stakes litigator and regulatory counsel, representing the nation’s leading financial institutions and technology companies in complex litigation, class actions, and regulatory matters. With significant experience in consumer financial services and emerging technologies, he regularly represents clients in matters related to a full spectrum of consumer protection laws, including the FCRA, FDCPA, ECOA, SCRA, MLA, TILA, EFTA, GLBA, and TCPA.

Before returning to private practice, Aaron served as General Counsel for a Silicon Valley-based fintech, where he developed extensive experience in cutting-edge payments products, state and federal regulatory inquiries, rulemakings, money transmission, lobbying and legislative affairs, licensing, product counseling, intellectual property, and compliance obligations across domestic and international markets. In this role, Aaron became widely regarded as one of the country’s leading authorities on Earned Wage Access (EWA) and other pay advance products.

Beyond his litigation and regulatory practice, Aaron has led numerous internal investigations, drafted comprehensive consumer-facing policies, and negotiated countless high-value commercial partnership agreements.

Known for his ability to anticipate risk and craft innovative legal solutions, he is a trusted advisor to businesses operating in fast-evolving, highly regulated industries. Aaron is a five-time Super Lawyers Rising Star, and is a go-to partner for companies facing their most critical legal and regulatory challenges.

“Having served as a GC and member of an executive management team, I focus on the big picture while maintaining a meticulous eye for detail, anticipating challenges before they arise.”

Experience

  • Defended leading national bank in consolidated class action litigation related to a variety of add-on products.
  • Obtained walk-away dismissal for leading fintech in TCPA class action.
  • Obtained complete dismissal on Motion to Dismiss for leading financial institution in FCRA class action related to stolen identities.
  • Amicably resolved years long multi-district litigation (MDL) against top financial institution alleging RICO, BHCA, CLRA, and fraud claims related to forced-placed auto insurance.
  • Counseled clients in complex payments products, marketing compliance (TCPA, CAN-SPAM, sweepstakes laws), privacy frameworks (GLBA, CCPA, CPRA, GDPR), employment and payroll laws, intellectual property protection, SaaS contracting, bank partnerships, sales incentive plans, and vendor procurement.
  • Overhauled consumer-facing terms and conditions for federal credit union.
  • Counseled major national bank regarding compliance with SCRA and state equivalents.
  • Led engagement with dozens of state and federal regulators regarding proposed rulemaking on EWA and related financial products.
  • Advised product, engineering, marketing, finance, and operations teams on complete app redesign and relaunch.
  • Obtained groundbreaking Approval Order from CFPB’s compliance assistance sandbox program exempting EWA program from TILA and Regulation Z.
  • Instrumental in passing first-of-its-kind legislation regulating EWA products (Nevada SB290).
  • Designed, streamlined, and automated contract management processes.
  • Negotiated and drafted complex commercial agreements, including key strategic partnership deals, bank partnership agreements, enterprise client contracts, and major vendor agreements.
  • Led team of dozens of outside counsel and lobbyists, and supervise in-house Legal & Compliance departments.
  • Launched international subsidiaries and products, including company formation, IP protection, regulatory and privacy analyses, product workflow, and management of local counsel.
  • Drafted policies, procedures, and risk-mitigation strategies to scale.
  • Defended top financial institution in SCRA class action.
  • Represented Plaintiff industry leading software provider in claims for breach of contract and copyright infringement.
  • Resolved dozens of trademark infringement disputes in the retail, fitness, and food & beverage industries.
  • Defended and resolved hundreds of single-plaintiff matters for top financial institution, including claims related to mortgage lending, foreclosure, insurance, credit reporting, and unfair competition.
  • Resolved trust and estate litigation on behalf of major institutional trustee.
  • Secured and enforced trademark rights on behalf of dozens of corporations of all sizes.
  • Defended high-technology companies in patent litigation related to a wide-array of subject matter, including video streaming, payment processing, and mobile applications.
  • Represented major retailer against third party logistics provider in breach of contract action.
  • Represented A-list celebrity in real estate litigation against agents and builder/seller in construction defect and professional negligence action.

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