The Firm

For over 20 years, the Hamburger Law Firm has worked side-by-side with its affiliated consultancy, MarketCounsel Consulting, developing a stellar reputation of its own by providing a blend of trusted business acumen and legal counsel on wealth management industry matters – bringing a rarefied depth of focus to this highly-regulated niche. 

Today, the firm supports business endeavors in and around the securities industry, throughout their entire lifecycle. They counsel startup investment advisors, manage the employment transition for the industry’s most accomplished financial advisors, and represent established investment advisors, financial technology firms, broker-dealers, funds, and their corresponding service providers as they navigate a broad array of complex issues faced by growing companies in a highly-regulated space. The ultimate success of our firm is inextricably linked to attracting and retaining the best and brightest people who live our core values. From there, we have built and foster a culture that frees our attorneys to be passionate about their work and recognizes their fierce dedication and total commitment to our clients.

At HamburgerLaw, our attorneys work together with a talented and empowered staff who are committed to excellence and thrive in a rather unconventional, fast-paced, technology-driven, team environment.It’s a recipe that has served us well, combining stellar client satisfaction rates and remarkable results. When you go above and beyond, clients tend to recognize it, appreciate it, and share their gratitude. Across the firm, we re aligned on a common goal –- to consistently achieve exceptional results while simultaneously delivering unparalleled value.

Attorneys

Learn more about our attorneys including their experience and areas of concentration.

Brian Hamburger, Esq., AIFA, CRCP

CHIEF COUNSEL

Brian is an entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, speaker, columnist and outspoken industry advocate for independent investment advisors and wealth management firms. For more than 24 years, he has served at the helm of the MarketCounsel companies and the Hamburger Law Firm.

Brian is the founder, president and CEO of MarketCounsel Consulting, the leading business and regulatory compliance consultancy to the country’s preeminent entrepreneurial independent investment advisors. Brian is also the founder and chief counsel of the Hamburger Law Firm, a boutique law firm with its practice in virtually all areas related to the investment and securities industry, entrepreneurial and employment matters. The MarketCounsel companies and the Hamburger Law Firm reflect Brian’s unrelenting entrepreneurial drive and genuine desire to provide an unparalleled combination of preeminent counsel and uncompromising service to the wealth management profession. Hamburger is also the president of MarketCounsel Productions, a company that has built community within the wealth management profession by hosting events such as The MarketCounsel Summit, MarketCounsel Supper Clubs and MarketCounsel After-Hours. The MarketCounsel Summit is the industry’s capstone event of the year and a forum for debate and dialogue on some of the most critical issues facing leaders of wealth management firms.

For six straight years, MarketCounsel Consulting was named as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine. Brian’s companies have won eight WealthManagement Industry Awards throughout the award program’s eight year history. And along the way, The MarketCounsel Summit has received numerous accolades, including being referred to by the press as “The Davos of Wealth Management” and consistently referred to as one of the elite industry conferences.

Hamburger has been at the forefront of the movement of financial advisors leaving career employment with global financial institutions to launch independent wealth management firms and has had a profound impact on the profession. In 2020, Brian was named to The IA25, Investment Advisor Magazine’s Annual List of the Top Influential People in the Industry. Earlier that year, InvestmentNews named Brian to their class of Icons & Innovators, recognizing visionaries who have shaped and transformed the financial advice profession. Prior to that, Wealth Management named Brian as one of the top thought leaders in wealth management, “Over the past decade, Hamburger has been the architect behind almost all the highest-profile breakaway deals in the industry, helping advisors navigate the legal thicket of transitioning away from brokerages and into independent business models. As such he’s been a central, but often unheralded, force in the evolution of the RIA industry.” Its predecessor publication, REP. Magazine, featured Brian on its cover as “The Engineer: Brian Hamburger and the RIA Evolution” and profiled, “how Brian Hamburger became the man behind the curtain in almost every major breakaway deal and helped define the industry.” Financial Advisor Magazine ran a cover story on its cover called, “Exodus: Lawyer Brian Hamburger ensures advisors … exit wirehouses the right way.” An early profile by ThinkAdvisor recognized Brian as “The Real Deal: one of those rare folks who is an expert in his own field, truly understands the business of independent advice, and clearly sees how the former supports the latter.”

Throughout his career, Brian has been called upon to meet with members of Congress and SEC commissioners to advocate fiercely for independent investment advisors. Brian is a fixture on the conference circuit and has served as keynote, moderator and panelist throughout the country as well as being omnipresent at his own annual gathering of the industry’s top executives and thought leaders. He is a contributor for CNBC and various industry publications. He’s also been regularly and widely quoted by financial press including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Barron’s, Dow Jones, and Reuters and is a go-to source for virtually every investment industry publication such as InvestmentNews, WealthManagement, RIABiz, Citywire, Financial Advisor IQ, AdvisorHUB, ThinkAdvisor, and Financial Planning.

Brian is admitted to the bars of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. Hamburger also heeded the call of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and various industry boards and task forces to shape industry-wide standards and initiatives. He is a member of the FINRA Dispute Resolution Board of Arbitrators and has served as an arbitrator for the New York Stock Exchange. Brian is a chef in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and a Team Rubicon Greyshirt. He is chairman of the MarketCounsel Foundation as well as a director of Invest in Others charitable foundation and an officer on its executive committee.

A graduate of Quinnipiac College, Mr. Hamburger received his undergraduate degree with the school’s first dual major in Economics and Financial Management. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law where he was the recipient of a Dean’s Service Scholarship and the President’s Pinnacle Award for his role as Editor-in-Chief of the Res Ipsa Loquitur, its bi-weekly journal. Brian was among the first to earn the designation of Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP) by the Wharton School and the FINRA Institute after completing his residency at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was also among the first to be awarded the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ (AIFA®) designation by the Center for Fiduciary Studies.

AREA OF PRACTICE:

  • Investment Advisor Regulation
  • Broker-Dealer Regulation
  • Regulatory Controversies
  • Business Transactions
  • Securities Industry Employment

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:

  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Massachusetts
  • Pennsylvania
  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
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Sharron E. Ash, Esq.

CHIEF COUNSEL, LITIGATION

Sharron Ash is Chief Litigation Counsel at the Hamburger Law Firm and serves as trusted counsel to the firm’s client base of investment advisors, broker-dealers and registered securities personnel, relating to securities industry employment matters, regulatory controversies, customer disputes, and other dispute resolution matters.

During her tenure at the firm, Sharron has served as the architect behind many of the most complex and sizable transitions within the industry, and has a nationwide reputation for tackling what are often high-risk issues, with thorough, strategic counsel.  When disputes arise, Sharron  has significant experience defending restrictive covenants and trade secret claims common to the securities industry and the temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions used to enforce them, as well as collateral employment related issues that often arise in such cases. When exigent circumstances arise, registered individuals rely on Sharron to navigate regulatory reporting on their Form U5, obtaining new employment, and related regulatory investigations.  She regularly resolves outstanding promissory note obligations, including disputes that may mitigate the obligation to pay those notes.

Sharron’s long term relationship with the firm’s clients demonstrate their trust and confidence in her skills, guiding them throughout the life cycle of their careers and businesses, whether navigating employee disputes, hiring or business acquisition, defending customer complaints or regulatory interactions.  Sharron has practiced extensively in state and federal courts across the country. She is well-versed in all phases of trial, arbitration and mediation proceedings, and has successfully represented the firm’s securities industry clients in formal and informal regulatory and law enforcement inquiries and disciplinary proceedings, including those before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), various state securities regulators, as well as accreditation related disciplinary boards, such as the Board of Certified Financial Planners.

Sharron is a sought after media resource, as well as frequent presenter on employment, privacy and dispute related issues in the securities industry.  She has been a part of the Hamburger Law Firm since January 2010.  A litigator since 1991,  Sharron is able to offer clients valuable practical advice to avoid legal proceedings where possible, or deploy aggressive litigation based strategies when circumstances require a strong response.

AREA OF PRACTICE:
  • Regulatory Controversies
  • Securities Industry Employment Securities
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Commercial Litigation
ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
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Daniel A. Bernstein, Esq.

CHIEF COUNSEL, REGULATORY

Daniel Bernstein is responsible for thought leadership, content development, and management of a team of regulatory professionals.  He is Chief Regulatory Counsel at MarketCounsel Consulting, the leading business and regulatory compliance consultancy to the country’s preeminent independent investment advisors.  He is also an attorney with the Hamburger Law Firm, a boutique law firm with its practice in virtually all areas related to the wealth management industry, entrepreneurial and employment matters.

Dan has significant experience in providing a broad range of legal services to individuals, startup and emerging companies, financial technology firms, enterprises and institutions in the securities industry.  Dan first began working with Brian Hamburger more than 25 years ago and joined the firm in 2003.  Dan is often referred to as a leading authority in regulatory compliance for registered investment advisors.

Dan is admitted to the bars of New Jersey and New York, as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.  He formerly held the FINRA General Securities Representative Exam (Series 7), NASAA Uniform Investment Advisor Law Exam (Series 65) and held New Jersey Property and Casualty and Health Insurance Producer licenses.  He earned his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Connecticut.  He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from the Rutgers School of Law where he was Chairman of the Moot Court Board.

AREA OF PRACTICE:

  • Investment Advisor Regulatory Compliance
  • Broker-Dealer Regulatory Compliance
  • Private Investment Fund Manager Compliance

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:

  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
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Robert S. Lipsey, Esq.

CHIEF COUNSEL, BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

As Business Transaction Counsel for Hamburger Law Firm, Bob is the trusted advisor to emerging and established clients in the areas of corporate formation, governance and taxation, among others.  He brings to bear decades of experience in both the practice of the law and operating executive roles on behalf of clients as well as a holistic, creative problem-solving approach.

Bob draws on his wealth of professional experience, including as a practicing attorney and as a general counsel and broker-dealer president, in addition to significant experience in the insurance industry.

Bob earned his Juris Doctorate (JD) from the University of Louisville in 1975, his Masters of Laws (LLM) from Temple University in 1980 and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation in 1989.  He has held numerous securities licenses, including Series 7, 24, 27, 63 and 65, and is an admitted member of the Philadelphia and American Bar Associations as well as of the Society of Financial Services Professionals.  He is also admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States Tax Court, and has been elected to the Four Chaplains Legion of Honor.

AREA OF PRACTICE:
  • Corporate Counsel
  • Business Transactions
  • Taxation
  • Financing
ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:
  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania – U.S. Tax Court
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Jonathan P. Macy, Esq.

COUNSEL, BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

Jonathan Macy is involved with all aspects of the firm’s business and transactions practice.

Jonathan primarily engages with clients in the areas of corporate formation, governance, mergers and acquisitions and related transactions, and taxation.  He has extensive experience in the healthcare, insurance, and financial services industries over his career in which he has represented entrepreneurs, executives and corporations in various matters and transactions.

Jonathan received his Juris Doctorate from New York Law School. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University at Albany. He is a member of the Bar of the State of New York and is also admitted to practice in federal court in the Southern District of New York and the United States Tax Court.  Jonathan also carries his Series 7 and Series 66 securities licenses. Jonathan resides in Florida with his wife and two sons.
AREA OF PRACTICE:
  • Corporate formation
  • Governance
  • Mergers and acquisitions and related transactions, and taxation
ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:
  • New York
  • U.S. Federal Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. Tax Court
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