BuckleySandler, a financial services, government enforcement and litigation law firm, appointed Heather Russell as a partner to lead the Financial Institutions Regulation, Supervision & Technology (FIRST) practice.

Russell brings more than 20 years of global experience across the financial services sector. Prior to joining BuckleySandler, she was executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Fifth Third Bancorp. Before that, she was global chief regulatory counsel at BNY Mellon and also spent five years with Bank of America, where she served as lead counsel for a number of the bank’s divisions. She previously practiced law for eight years at Skadden in its Washington D.C. and London offices, focusing on bank regulatory, consumer financial services and international corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.

The FIRST team combines institutional bank regulatory capabilities with the firm’s broader regulatory compliance, enforcement, transactional and FinTech practices to provide an integrated and comprehensive approach for financial institutions as well as new entrants in the financial services marketplace to meet the challenges of the regulatory and business environments.

“We are thrilled that Heather has chosen to join BuckleySandler and augment our team with her global perspective, Washington regulatory experience and practical insights from decades of big law practice as well as in-house roles, including most recently as general counsel of one of the largest banks in the country,” said Andrew L. Sandler, BuckleySandler chairman and executive partner.