Nicole Dogwill is a Partner at the boutique law firm of Joseph Cohen & Del Vecchio PC (JCD) with 20+ years of in-house and private practice experience advising and representing private and public financial services, technology, fintech and tribal economic development entities, as well as their executives and boards of directors, on legal, regulatory, compliance, and corporate governance matters. She is also well-versed in handling federal and state government relations efforts on behalf of tribal fintech entities.
Prior to joining JCD, Ms. Dogwill was the Chief Legal Officer of BlueChip Financial, a fintech lender that is the economic arm of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and a member of its Executive Committee. At BlueChip Financial, she was the head of the Legal, Compliance and Government Relations groups and handled all of the company’s legal, regulatory, compliance, financing and corporate governance matters.
Prior to BlueChip Financial, Ms. Dogwill was a Director & Senior Counsel at Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management-US where she represented the broker-dealer and its financial and investment advisors in litigation, FINRA arbitration and regulatory matters, as well as overseeing internal investigations. Before going in-house, Ms. Dogwill was a regulatory and litigation Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP. She also worked previously as a commercial litigator at Gray Cary Ware & Friedenrich.
Areas of Expertise:
Financial Services Litigation: Ms. Dogwill has significant experience as a litigation and trial attorney on behalf of financial services, technology, fintech companies and their respective executives and directors, on a wide range of securities, consumer lending (TILA, FCRA, ECOA/Fair Lending, EFTA, FDCPA), advertising, FTC Act, RICO, fiduciary duty, class action and consumer matters. She offers specific expertise in representing broker-dealers and their executives and advisors in civil litigation and in FINRA arbitrations on a wide range of matters.
Financial Services Regulatory Matters: Ms. Dogwill has considerable experience representing clients in regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions with the CFPB, FTC, FINRA, SEC and state regulatory agencies. Specifically, she has represented broker-dealers and their executives in FINRA, SEC and state investigations, enforcement matters and internal investigations, and has counseled broker-dealers in evaluating their self-reporting obligations under FINRA Rule 4530(b). She has also represented fintech companies in regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions with the CFPB and FTC, as well as state regulatory agencies.
Tribal Economic Development: Given her background, Ms. Dogwill has unique insight into the creation, development, and growth of tribal economic development entities, including but not limited to Section 17 corporations and tribal corporate structures. She has handled complex litigation, compliance and regulatory matters for tribal economic development entities, as well as advising on tribal financing deals.
Government Relations: Ms. Dogwill thoroughly understands the unique and important intersection of tribal economic development and federal and state legislation and policy and has effectively represented tribal economic interests before federal and state government officials.
Ms. Dogwill is a former Board member of The Online Lenders Alliance, as well as a former Board member of StartOut, a non-profit supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. She is also a former President of the National LGBT Bar Association. She earned her Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Michigan State University College of Law in 1998, where she was managing editor of MSU College of Law Review. She received a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Michigan in 1994.