By Tom Lo
Reed Smith has hired a new partner in Houston.
Christina Vitale joins the firm's financial industry group as a partner from Morgan Lewis.
Vidale focuses on financial services class actions and banking and enforcement actions. She also represents clients before federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and state attorneys general.
In addition she acts on consumer protection matters and unfair/deceptive business practices, bankruptcy litigation and claims issues, forensic accounting issues, including identity theft and wire fraud/credit card fraud, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, state unfair competition laws, data privacy issues, and the US Bankruptcy Code.
The hiring of Vitale follows that of Jay Thornton in Miami and Eric Holland in Houston. Reed Smith is looking to build on their financial services presence in Houston.