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Aisha Smith

She/Her

Counsel

T 202.973.4285 Washington, D.C.
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Aisha Smith provides sound transactional and regulatory compliance advice to a broad clientele in the financial services sector, including banks and other lenders, trusts, loan servicers, payment processors, and fintechs. She has extensive experience guiding clients through complex matters before state banking regulators, federal agencies, and congressional committees and focusing on de-escalation. She does so by delivering legal analysis in an approachable way, fine-tuning advocacy plans by working to understand her clients' current and future business needs.

In particular, Aisha leverages her knowledge of a wide range of federal and state laws regarding privacy, higher education, debt collection, credit reporting, military benefits, consumer safeguards such as UDAAP protections, commercial transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. She offers keen insight on fast-changing emerging law, including in the crypto, buy now/pay later, and alternative lending spaces, keeping her finger on the pulse of CFPB interest in regulating competitive markets, web3, junk fees, overdraft rules, and privacy and data protection.

Before joining DWT, Aisha's practice focused on managing risks related to clients' operational practices, product development, compliance management systems, and consumer communication. As an in-house counsel leading a loan servicer's regulatory legal team, Aisha managed recruitment and supervision of 14 attorneys and analysts; she also co-chaired the company's diversity, equity, and inclusion program. Outside of financial services, she has served as guardian ad litem in a divorce custody proceeding referred from the Children's Law Center.

Practice Highlights

Multistate compliance and licensing counseling

Counsels clients navigating multistate and interagency transactional and regulatory matters. Advises bank, lenders, crypto companies, loan servicers, payment processors, and other fintechs on licensing and strategy and implementation.

Regulatory supervision and examinations

Assists financial services providers with state and federal examinations, including proactive risk mitigation and resolution of examination findings. Services include, but are not limited to, writing and transmission of examination responses, interview preparation for executives, managers, and front-line staff, and negotiation of examination resolution.

Financial product development and inclusion

Assists financial services providers with creating products and user experiences that expand access to financial services and align with current regulatory regimes.

Admitted to Practice

  • District of Columbia, 2022
  • Wisconsin, 2013
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2022

Education

  • J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School, 2013
  • B.S., Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, 2010

Memberships & Affiliations

    • Voting member, Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, Education Committee, 2021-Present
    • Director, Student Loan Servicing Alliance Board, 2020-2021
    • Fellow, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, 2019-Present
    • Director, Unity Point-Meriter Hospital Board, 2019-2021
    • Member, Safe Community's African American Opioid Coalition Advisory Board, 2017-2019

Background

    • Counsel, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Washington, D.C., 2022-2023
    • Director, Regulatory and Compliance Counsel, Nelnet, Washington, D.C., 2019-2021
    • Regulatory and Compliance Counsel, Nelnet, Madison, Wis., 2018-2019
    • Associate Counsel, Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, Madison, Wis., 2013-2018
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