Jessica D. Burt represents clients in the asset management industry, including registered investment companies, independent directors, and investment advisers. She frequently counsels on the applicability and interpretation of federal securities laws. Jessica is a member of Stradley Ronon’s environmental, social & governance practice group and advises asset managers and fund boards on ESG-related regulatory implications, such as disclosure requirements, and on fund incorporation of ESG considerations into investment strategy and decisions. Her experience includes representing:
- Registered Investment Companies: Jessica advises clients on the federal securities laws pertaining to the formation, registration, and ongoing compliance of open-end mutual funds, including multi-manager funds and sub-advised funds. She drafts and reviews critical documents, such as registration statements, proxy solicitation materials, information statements, shareholder reports, and compliance policies and procedures. She assists in responding to SEC inquiries and drafts no-action requests and exemptive applications. Jessica also prepares plans of reorganization and registration statements on Form N-14 in connection with fund mergers and acquisitions involving both affiliated and non-affiliated funds.
- Independent Directors: Jessica advises boards of directors on issues arising under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as well as various governance issues.
- Investment Advisers: Jessica counsels investment advisers with respect to their obligations under the securities laws and drafts and reviews investment adviser registration materials. She also represents investment management clients undertaking corporate mergers or reorganizations.
While in law school, Jessica served as the senior note and comment editor for the American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law. She was a legal research and writing teaching assistant and was recognized with a dean’s fellowship for Legal Rhetoric. She also served as a student attorney for the Domestic Violence and Women and the Law clinics. Jessica began her legal career at Stradley Ronon as a summer associate.
Prior to law school, she was a program associate for the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, where she conducted research and wrote grant proposals, securing funding from the U.S. Department of Justice for farmworker public education campaigns.