Jennifer L. Stout is the former CEO and current Vice Chair and Senior Executive Advisor at Bates Group, with over 30 years of experience in financial services, leadership, and professional services. She began her career as a CPA at Arthur Andersen and joined Bates Group early on, ultimately rising from an entry-level financial analyst to CEO. Ms. Stout played a central role in expanding Bates Group’s end-to-end legal, regulatory, and compliance solutions and driving the firm’s national and international growth.  Her career reflects deep operational knowledge, long-term strategic leadership, and strong commitment to client service and organizational excellence.

Alex Russell is a Senior Managing Director at Bates Group with over 20 years of experience supporting complex securities litigation, regulatory enforcement matters, and institutional disputes. His work focuses on economic damages, valuation, quantitative financial modeling, and the use of data analytics in market manipulation and fraud matters. Mr. Russell regularly provides expert witness testimony in both retail and institutional cases involving investment banking, sales and trading, and ultra-high-net-worth clients. In addition, Mr. Russell leads the Big Data Analytics segment within Bates Group, which provides support to investigations or disputes that require the analysis of large volumes of data.  Prior to joining Bates Group, he served as a consultant at LECG, supporting forensic investigations in financial litigation, and earlier worked as an auditor with the Oregon Department of Revenue and a research analyst at Merrill Lynch.

As Senior Vice President of Regulatory Enforcement and Remediation at Simpluris, Paul leads the government and fund distribution activities for Federal and State Enforcement actions and voluntary exam remediations. Paul works closely with regulators, financial institutions, law firms and retail clients to remediating enforcement orders and class actionproceedings needing consumer and investor redress. These include, but notlimited to, actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),Federal Trade Commission (FTC), FINRA, CFTC, FDIC, Department of Labor, CFPB,and nearly all state Attorney General and Securities bodies. Paul also leads Simpluris’ efforts as a Fair Fund Administrator forthe SEC and Redress Program Administrator for the FTC.

David Birnbaum is a Bates Group Managing Director with nearly 40 years of experience in legal, compliance, and business leadership in the financial services industry. Throughout his career, he has advised senior executives and led legal teams supporting major wealth management and private banking platforms. He previously served as the principal legal executive for Merrill Lynch’s U.S. and international wealth management businesses. David is grateful for the many stops along his career path that ultimately led him to Bates Group, and for the exceptional colleagues, clients, and industry leaders alongside whom he has had the privilege to work and play. 

As Senior Director of Regulatory Enforcement and Remediation at Simpluris, Amy provides comprehensive support to federal and state regulators, in-house counsel, compliance professionals, and defense counsel navigating the complexities of remediation administration. With extensive experience acting as a third-party neutral partner, she serves as a trusted resource to streamline enforcement efforts and deliver efficient, effective mediation solutions. Known for her strategic, practical approach, Amy helps legal teams navigate the complexities of fund administration and consumer or investor redress with confidence, ensuring remediation programs are executed smoothly and aligned with both regulatory requirements and client objectives.

Henry “Hank” Sanchez, Jr. is a Managing Director at Bates Group with over 40 years of experience in securities industry compliance, risk management, and due diligence. He advises broker-dealers and investment advisers on regulatory matters and has served as a Chief Compliance Officer, expert witness, and independent consultant. His background also includes senior compliance leadership roles at national financial institutions and extensive experience supporting firms of all sizes.  Mr. Sanchez previously spent more than a decade as a regulator with both the SEC and NASD/FINRA, where, while at the SEC, he focused on trading practices and examinations, and while at NASD/FINRA, he held roles in Enforcement and Internal Audit.

Rhonda Davis is a Senior Managing Director at Bates Group with 25 years of experience in legal and compliance roles within the securities industry. She leads the Firm’s Compliance Practice, which offers full-service regulatory support to broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, and other financial institutions. Ms. Davis is a member of the Investment Advisors Association and the National Society of Compliance Professionals. Before joining Bates Group, she founded Cobia Compliance LLC and previously served as in-house counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for multiple financial services firms.

Jennifer L. Cunningham is a Managing Director at Bates Group with over 20 years of experience in broker-dealer compliance, risk management, operations, and Human Resources. She has deep expertise in managing customer complaints, conducting branch office audits, and overseeing heightened supervision plans for financial advisors, and regularly serves as a corporate representative in mediations and FINRA arbitrations. Prior to joining Bates Group, Ms. Cunningham was a Managing Director at a consulting firm, where she focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives and supported broker-dealer litigation. Her background also includes senior compliance and operations leadership roles at UBS Financial Services and Merrill Lynch.

Joseph J. Thomas is a Director at Bates Group with over 35 years of experience in securities industry compliance, supervision, operations, and administration. He has extensive expertise in financial and damages analysis, supervisory systems, and litigation support, and has provided quantitative and substantive witness testimony in more than 120 retail securities arbitrations, court matters, and other litigation proceedings. Prior to joining Bates Group, Mr. Thomas held senior leadership roles at Wells Fargo, Wachovia Securities, A.G. Edwards & Sons, and Edward Jones, where he oversaw large-scale compliance supervision, branch audits, and litigation auditing functions.

Michael Lindemann is a Senior Managing Director at Bates Group with over 18 years of experience in banking, fintech, and financial services compliance. He specializes in AML and regulatory compliance, with deep expertise in federal regulatory remediation initiatives, model validations, and serving as a fractional Chief Compliance Officer for financial institutions. Mr. Lindemann previously served as Chief Compliance Officer for Monex USA and Monex Canada, where he led compliance programs over a seven-year tenure. Prior to that, he held senior roles at Citi, Regions Financial, and Wells Fargo, supporting global operations and compliance initiatives.