Veteran Bitcoin Legal Strategist Joins Firm Hosting Trump Transition Meetings

Veteran bitcoin lawyer Carol Van Cleef has a new job.

The former partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips started her new position at Baker Hostetler earlier this month.

While Van Cleef will continue her previous focus working with bank compliance issues and cryptocurrency, she tells CoinDesk her new employer has hosted several meetings with people helping US President-elect Donald Trump transition to power.

Van Cleef explained the nature of her new position to CoinDesk:

"I'll be heading the FinTech practice and continue to have a huge focus on virtual currencies and blockchain technology."

Van Cleef began her new job on 1st November, after spending almost three years at Manatt. Previously, she founded anti-money laundering and OFAC compliance trading firm, Comptegrity, for which she still serves as chairman.

Over the past year, she has also helped develop the Uniform Law Commission's efforts to draft a legal framework for virtual currencies, and earlier this month she was one of 50 attorneys to join launch the Digital Currency and Ledger Defense Coalition.

At Manatt, her compliance practice had focused largely on helping companies understand the USA Patriot Act, BSA and OFAC regulations.

BakerHostetler was founded in 1916, and currently employs about 900 partners and associates. The firm specializes in litigation, business, employment, intellectual property and tax law.

According to an Intercept report yesterday, the firm had hosted "regular" meetings of Trump for America Inc, a non-profit group chaired by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, as part of an effort to help oversee the Trump transition.

An earlier version of this article based on the conversation with Van Cleef reported that Baker Hostetler was representing Trump's transition team. A representative of the company called CoinDesk to clarify, "We’re not representing the transition team."

Image via CoinDesk