Julia B. Strickland 

As the chair of Stroock’s financial services litigation, regulation and enforcement group, Julia B. Strickland’s expertise and leadership skills have helped her team provide top-notch legal services to some of the most sophisticated global financial services institutions.

Strickland’s journey into financial services litigation was somewhat haphazard. “I’ve been representing banking institutions my entire career,” she said. “I went into it frankly, almost serendipitously.”

Today, the world is riddled with fraud and scam activities, thanks in part to the advanced technology available to criminal minds.

Strickland’s team is active in representing financial services companies in addressing claims arising from these activities, including currently representing Zelle in a series of individual and putative class actions arising out of alleged scams using the Zelle platform.

She explained, “What typically happens in these cases is a bank customer is offered Zelle as a way to make payments. In one case, people bought puppies online. I don’t know why anybody would buy a puppy online, but they transferred the money through their bank account using Zelle, and then the puppy doesn’t get delivered. And then they blame the bank and Zelle for not getting the puppies.”

According to Strickland, there has been a marked increase in litigation related to scams, deposit account fraud and financial elder abuse, often involving wire transfer scams. “Elders have always been targets for fraudsters — that’s not news,” Strickland said. “But the ability to easily move money using technology and to move money offshore has just made it more feasible for fraudsters to do the wrong thing.”

She mentioned several cases where overseas organizations scammed millions of dollars from the elderly in romance schemes before the FBI became involved. However, Strickland’s job is to protect the institutions from lawsuits.

“Many of these circumstances are very sad. People lost real money to these scammers, which is very unfortunate,” Strickland said. “But it’s not our clients’ responsibility.”

With the ever-evolving landscape of technology and fraud, it’s clear that experts like Julia Strickland are vital in protecting financial institutions and their customers. As she continues to lead her team, one thing is certain: the banks are well-protected by her efforts.

— Douglas Saunders