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.
Learn more about our firm’s accomplished roster of attorneys including their experience and areas of concentration.
Brian Hamburger, Esq., AIFA, CRCP
FOUNDER & CEO
Brian Hamburger is an entrepreneur, attorney, strategic advisor, speaker, and industry commentator who has spent more than 26 years helping shape the business, strategic, and regulatory landscape of the wealth management profession.
Brian helps founders, CEOs, boards, and leadership teams build enduring businesses across the wealth management ecosystem. Throughout his career, he has advised many of the profession’s most successful entrepreneurial firms on the strategic decisions that define their futures—from growth strategy and advisor recruiting to mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, governance, enterprise risk, and crisis management—helping clients navigate the execution of their most consequential strategic initiatives.
Brian founded MarketCounsel and The Hamburger Law Firm to serve entrepreneurial firms through a highly coordinated combination of strategic counsel, legal guidance, and business advisory services. Today, he works at the intersection of business strategy, law, regulation, and innovation, advising wealth management firms, technology companies, strategic investors, and the innovators serving the profession as they navigate complexity, seize opportunity, bring innovative ideas to market, and scale them successfully.
Widely regarded as one of the architects of the modern independent advice movement, Brian has advised thousands of advisory firms throughout their lifecycles—from launch and growth to advisor recruiting, innovative business models, mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, and many of the industry’s most significant advisor transitions, business sales, and founder exits. His work has helped shape many of the legal, strategic, and operational frameworks that define today’s RIA profession.
Brian’s leadership and the organizations he founded have been recognized through numerous industry awards honoring innovation, leadership, legal excellence, and strategic contributions to the wealth management profession.
A sought-after keynote speaker, moderator, featured guest, and industry commentator, Brian has appeared at leading industry conferences throughout North America. He founded and hosted the award-winning MarketCounsel Summit for 16 years, an invitation-only gathering widely recognized as one of the profession’s premier forums for candid dialogue among industry leaders.
Brian is regularly quoted by leading business and financial media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron’s, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, as well as virtually every major wealth management publication.
Beyond his professional practice, Brian is committed to strengthening the future of the profession through board service, philanthropy, and industry leadership. He serves on the boards of the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and the FinServ Foundation and chairs the MarketCounsel Foundation.
Jeffrey Schweon, Esq.
CHIEF COUNSEL
Jeffrey (Jeff) Schweon serves as Chief Counsel for The Hamburger Law Firm, where he works alongside the firm’s practice leaders to coordinate complex client engagements involving multiple legal disciplines. He provides strategic counsel to founders, CEOs, and executive leadership teams on the legal, regulatory, operational, and business issues that shape the growth, governance, and long-term success of their businesses. Serving as the firm’s principal coordinating attorney, Jeff helps clients navigate sophisticated matters that span corporate transactions, regulatory compliance, employment, litigation, governance, and strategic business initiatives.
Jeff brings a perspective that is rare in the investment advisory profession. Before joining Hamburger Law Firm, he spent more than twenty-one years as a Partner, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Williams Jones Wealth Management, a leading SEC-registered investment adviser serving ultra-high-net-worth families, business owners, and private foundations. During his tenure, Williams Jones grew into one of the country’s premier advisory firms, managing more than $13 billion in client assets while operating within the Focus Financial Partners network.
As a member of the firm’s executive leadership team, Jeff participated in virtually every aspect of the business, including strategic planning, client relationships, operations, finance, compliance, enterprise risk management, technology, cybersecurity, alternative investments, executive recruiting, acquisitions, and corporate governance. Having served simultaneously as chief legal, compliance, and financial officer, he understands the operational realities facing advisory firms from the inside—an experience that enables him to provide practical, business-oriented legal counsel grounded in executive decision-making.
Earlier in his career, Jeff spent fifteen years in private legal practice representing clients in corporate, securities, and investment management matters. He became a partner at both Salans and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, where he advised investment advisers, financial institutions, and business enterprises on sophisticated corporate and securities transactions.
Jeff is valued for his ability to synthesize legal, regulatory, operational, financial, and strategic considerations into practical business advice. Throughout his career, he has helped organizations anticipate and resolve complex issues before they develop into litigation or regulatory disputes, while coordinating outside counsel and other advisors when specialized expertise is required. He also served as a trusted sounding board to founders, CEOs, and executive leadership teams confronting sophisticated business, governance, and risk management challenges.
A recognized leader within the investment advisory profession, Jeff has served on the Board of Governors of the Investment Adviser Association, including as Chair of its Business Practices Committee, Chair of its Government Relations Committee, Chair of Advocacy Counsel, a member of its Executive Committee, and a member of its Nominating Committee. He also serves on the Board of Advisors to the Dean of The George Washington University Law School.
Jeff earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, magna cum laude, from Temple University and his Juris Doctor, with Honors, from The George Washington University Law School.
Sharron Ash, Esq.
CHIEF COUNSEL, TRANSITIONS & CONTROVERSIES
Sharron Ash serves as Chief Counsel, Transitions & Controversies at The Hamburger Law Firm, where she advises investment advisers, broker-dealers, financial professionals, and business owners on the employment, regulatory, and strategic issues that arise throughout the life cycle of their businesses and careers. Her practice focuses on securities industry employment matters, advisor and team transitions, restrictive covenant issues, regulatory controversies, commercial disputes, and crisis management, helping clients navigate matters where legal strategy, business judgment, and reputation are inextricably linked.
For more than three decades, Sharron has helped clients navigate both the opportunities and challenges associated with growth, transition, and change. She has served as a trusted advisor in many of the wealth management industry’s largest and most complex advisor and team transitions, helping clients plan and execute strategic moves while anticipating legal, regulatory, and business risks before they escalate. Her experience includes developing transition strategies, addressing restrictive covenant and trade secret considerations, and advising clients on the legal frameworks necessary to minimize disruption and protect their business interests.
When disputes or other critical matters arise, Sharron brings deep litigation and regulatory experience to protect clients’ interests and achieve practical resolutions. She regularly counsels firms and individuals confronting regulatory investigations, Form U5 disclosures, customer complaints, employment disputes, promissory note matters, reputational issues, and other business-critical controversies. Whether the challenge involves regulators, employers, counterparties, or customers, she helps clients make sound strategic decisions under pressure while protecting their interests.
Sharron has extensive experience representing clients before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), state securities regulators, and professional credentialing organizations. She has practiced extensively in state and federal courts throughout the United States and is well versed in trial, arbitration, and mediation proceedings. Her practical perspective often helps clients resolve disputes before litigation becomes necessary, while her litigation experience positions them for an effective defense when formal proceedings are appropriate.
A frequent speaker and commentator on securities industry employment, regulatory, privacy, and litigation matters, Sharron has been an integral member of The Hamburger Law Firm since 2010. She is valued for her strategic judgment, decisive counsel, and ability to guide clients through both transformative opportunities and significant legal challenges.
Sharron is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, as well as before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Daniel Bernstein, Esq.
CHIEF COUNSEL, SECURITIES INDUSTRY REGULATION
Daniel (Dan) Bernstein is Chief Regulatory Counsel at MarketCounsel Consulting, where he leads the firm’s regulatory consulting practice, oversees thought leadership and content development, and manages a team of regulatory professionals serving many of the country’s leading independent investment advisers. He is also an attorney with The Hamburger Law Firm, where he advises clients on a wide range of securities regulatory, compliance, and business matters affecting registered investment advisers and other participants across the wealth management industry.
For more than two decades, Dan has been one of the profession’s most respected regulatory attorneys, advising firms ranging from emerging RIAs and fintech companies to some of the industry’s largest and most sophisticated advisory businesses. He is widely recognized for his deep knowledge of investment adviser regulation, his practical approach to solving complex compliance challenges, and his ability to translate evolving regulatory requirements into effective business practices.
Dan has worked alongside Brian Hamburger for more than 25 years and joined the firm in its early years. Throughout his career, he has played a central role in helping advisory firms navigate regulatory examinations, registration and compliance matters, business transitions, and strategic growth initiatives. His insights regularly inform the firm’s research, educational programming, and guidance on regulatory developments affecting the independent wealth management profession.
Dan is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York, as well as before the US District Court for the District of New Jersey. Earlier in his career, he held the FINRA Series 7 and NASAA Series 65 licenses, along with New Jersey Property & Casualty and Health Insurance Producer licenses. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Connecticut and his Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law, where he served as Chairman of the Moot Court Board.
Robert Lipsey, Esq., LLM (Taxation), CFP®
CHIEF COUNSEL, BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
Robert (Bob) Lipsey serves as Chief Counsel, Business Transactions at The Hamburger Law Firm, where he advises founders, business owners, and leadership teams on the legal and strategic issues that shape the growth, operation, and transition of their businesses. His practice spans corporate transactions, taxation, trusts and estates, succession planning, financing, and corporate governance, enabling him to help clients structure sophisticated business and ownership strategies with an integrated legal and tax perspective.
Bob brings a perspective few attorneys can match. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has served not only as outside counsel but also as a general counsel, broker-dealer president, and operating executive. Equally uncommon is the breadth of his legal practice, which combines deep experience in business transactions with advanced tax and trusts & estates expertise. This multidisciplinary background allows him to help clients navigate complex transactions, ownership structures, and succession matters while balancing legal, tax, and business considerations.
His background also includes significant experience in the securities and insurance industries, allowing him to advise clients whose businesses operate within highly regulated environments. Clients value Bob for his thoughtful counsel, strategic judgment, and ability to simplify sophisticated legal and business issues into practical solutions.
Bob earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville and his Master of Laws (LLM) in Taxation from Temple University. He also holds the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation and has held numerous securities licenses, including the Series 7, 24, 27, 63, and 65.
He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the United States Tax Court. He is a member of the Philadelphia and American Bar Associations and the Society of Financial Service Professionals and has been elected to the Four Chaplains Legion of Honor.
Jonathan Macy, Esq.
COUNSEL, BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
Jonathan (Jon) Macy is Counsel, Business Transactions at The Hamburger Law Firm, where he advises entrepreneurs, business owners, and established companies on the legal and strategic issues involved in forming, operating, acquiring, and growing their businesses. His practice focuses on corporate formation and governance, mergers and acquisitions, business transactions, taxation, and related commercial matters.
Jonathan brings broad experience advising clients across the insurance, financial services, healthcare, and other highly regulated industries. He works closely with founders, executives, and corporate leadership teams to structure transactions, navigate complex legal and tax considerations, and develop practical solutions that support long-term business objectives. Clients value his thoughtful, collaborative approach and his ability to guide sophisticated matters from planning through execution.
Working within the firm’s Business Transactions practice group, Jonathan assists clients throughout the business lifecycle—from entity formation and governance to acquisitions, strategic transactions, and ongoing corporate counseling. His practice reflects The Hamburger Law Firm’s commitment to providing integrated legal advice that aligns business strategy with sound legal judgment.
Jonathan earned his Juris Doctor from New York Law School and his bachelor’s degree from the University at Albany. He is admitted to practice in New York, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the United States Tax Court. He also holds the FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 securities licenses.