Shelli J Clarkston

Shelli Clarkston practices in the areas of banking, business transactions, and general corporate counseling.

Banking

Shelli has two decades of experience in the financial services industry, working with community banks, holding companies, global financial institutions, and insurance companies. Shelli’s experience includes serving as General Counsel for a community bank and financial holding company, handling regional regulatory compliance and internal audit for a global financial institution, and serving as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer for a global financial services technology platform.

Shelli has extensive experience advising financial institutions on regulatory compliance and adherence to industry standards and expectations, including adherence to emerging U.S. and global data privacy regulations. Shelli has experience assisting organizations with the creation and management of compliance programs and policies. In addition, Shelli’s experience in the areas of enterprise and program risk management enable her to actively engage with clients to assist them with new initiatives, guide the risk and compliance aspects of such initiatives, and ways to strategically approach such initiatives.

Shelli also has experience in assisting holding companies and financial institutions with obtaining approvals from regulatory agencies and handling acquisitions, mergers, and dissolutions of holding companies, banks, and insurance agencies.

Representative Experience

• Represented a Kansas-based financial holding company with the acquisition of community banks and the subsequent merger of three banks into one.
• Represented a Kansas bank with planning for protection from liability related to acquired assets, including the creation of a holding company for such assets.
• Advised a regional Kansas-based bank on the creation of a regulatory compliance program, including advising on the specific requirements of applicable regulations.

Business & Technology Transactions

Shelli has extensive experience handling a variety of business transactions including financing transactions, capital raising, and business acquisitions, transfers, and dissolutions. Shelli can provide guidance on transaction structuring, including the regulatory and tax implications of alternative structures.

Shelli also has experience in negotiating technology service provider and vendor agreements, including in matters such as compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, intellectual property protection, data privacy and protection, information security, risk management, disaster recovery, and service level agreements. Shelli has negotiated service provider agreements for business in the U.S. and globally.

Representative Experience

• Represented a major regional hospital with the conversion of the hospital from a corporation to a limited liability company, including advising on the specific tax consequences to the hospital and its shareholders.
• Represented a professor from a major university in the negotiation of a consulting contract that resulted in nationwide recognition of such professor and the university and the expansion of the university’s technology within a major area of study.
• Represented family-owned business with the buy-out of a primary shareholder, including advising on the various methods of valuation of the shareholder’s interest.
• Represented many health care providers, including dermatologists, primary care physicians, chiropractors, optometrists, and physical therapists, in the planning and creation of new entities, including obtaining approval for such entities from the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.
• Advised a global technology company on various aspects of contracts with third-party service providers, including in the areas of data privacy and regulatory compliance in the financial services industry such as compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

General Corporate Counseling

Shelli counsels many private and closely held businesses on matters ranging from entity formation, contract drafting and negotiation, corporate reorganization, and tax planning. Shelli enjoys working closely with her clients to assist them with their business planning, day-to-day legal matters, and helping them achieve their business goals.

In addition to serving private and closely-held businesses, Shelli has advised large global businesses and has served in key leadership roles within such businesses. Shelli understands the differences between small and large businesses, and the complexities that come with each, and provides counsel regardless of business size. 

Representative Experience

• Represented many entrepreneurs in the planning and formation of corporations and limited liability companies, including advising on the tax consequences of the various entities.
• Represented a family-owned business with succession planning upon the retirement from the business of the family’s patriarch.