Emily Honsa Hicks

Emily Honsa Hicks is a Senior Financial Regulatory Attorney with over a decade of legal experience in consumer financial services regulation, financial technology (fintech), electronic signature compliance, remote online notarization laws, digital assets, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), payments regulation, and federal and state regulatory compliance, including anti-money laundering (AML) and other risk management needs. She regularly advises major platform providers, financial institutions, fintech companies, and industry bodies on the rapidly evolving legal developments and frameworks governing electronic transactions. The breadth of her experience both inside organizations and advising as external counsel allows her to understand her clients' operational challenges as few in private practice can.

Emily's current practice spans several core areas. She is a leading advisor on electronic signature and consumer financial services regulation, counseling technology companies, national banks, government-sponsored enterprises, and credit unions on ESIGN Act compliance, state e-signature and e-notarization requirements, agreements, disclosures, and the implementation of electronic transaction platforms. In digital assets and blockchain, Emily advises cryptocurrency exchanges, token issuers, and financial institutions on relevant compliance obligations, including advising on money transmission licensing across multiple jurisdictions and virtual asset service provider (VASP) regulations (including NY BitLicense and California DFAL licensing). Her AML, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), and payments regulation experience includes drafting and reviewing AML policies and procedures and building comprehensive compliance programs. She also advises on financial regulatory disclosures and has a wealth of experience in traditional financial services (TradFi) legal and regulatory compliance; advising on TILA, RESPA, GLBA, Reg E, FDCPA, FCRA, among other federal consumer financial services laws and regulations.

Emily's client roster includes Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, publicly traded fintech and technology companies, government-sponsored enterprises, and high-growth startups. She regularly provides thought leadership surrounding cutting-edge legal developments and has built a rapidly growing practice advising clients navigating complex, multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscapes.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Emily worked in private practice at law firms focusing on financial services but also gained valuable industry experience working "in house" for financial institutions. As underwriting counsel for a real property title insurance underwriter, Emily assisted title insurance agents in their resolution of complex real estate legal issues; at a national bank, she focused on performing consumer regulatory audits, supporting multiple lines of business to ensure regulatory, bankruptcy, and foreclosure compliance, and handling compliance review of escalated regulatory complaints and complaint reporting, trending, and analysis. Her uniquely practical perspective allows her to tailor advice for the operational reality her clients face.

At prior firms, she focused on consumer financial services regulation on both federal and state levels, as well as secured and unsecured lending (including origination, servicing and default).  Her experience informs her practice, and she is proficient in interpreting supervisory guidance and actions to hone compliant policies and procedures. She also has significant experience drafting and reviewing existing and proposed risks and controls for various financial institutions, and has served as a court mediator, focusing on secured loan default.

Emily is a graduate of Hiram College and holds an Executive Certificate in Negotiation and a Certificate in Strategies for Conflict Management from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. She earned her J.D. at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (now Cleveland State University College of Law), where she received the Steven J. Werber Collegial Integrity Award and the Joseph M. Perry, Jr Award for Parliamentary Advocacy among other recognitions. While attending law school, she interned at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Washington, D.C., handling immigration and criminal matters at the U.S. Attorney's Office and administrative labor law and criminal matters at NCIS.

Emily is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, the State of Ohio, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Emily values community service and enjoys pro bono legal work. She has been recognized on the 2022 and 2023 Capital Pro Bono Honor Rolls. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and various artistic and creative pursuits.