Ashley Senary Dahlberg
Senior Counsel
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
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Biography
Ashley Dahlberg is Senior Counsel in the firm's San Antonio office. Ms. Dahlberg assists financial institutions with regulatory matters brought by the SEC, FINRA and state securities regulators. Ms. Dahlberg also acts as litigation counsel on high-risk commercial and securities disputes in state and federal courts, and in AAA and FINRA arbitration forums.
Ms. Dahlberg encourages clients to examine why and how disputes arise. She works with clients to manage internal investigations, develop and implement compliant policies, and evaluate process improvements. On a full-time secondment, she served as acting in-house Investments Counsel for a Fortune 500 financial services group. This experience in advising both business and legal stakeholders, while also being a litigator, provides a distinct advantage in her ability to effectively provide counsel.
Ms. Dahlberg is a frequent speaker on topics related to the advancement of women and mothers in the law, and is a recipient of the Belva Lockwood Outstanding Young Lawyer Award. As the highest honor of the Bexar County Women's Bar, it recognizes one lawyer each year for her reputation, experience, and work to improve the status of women in the legal community.
Professional experience
Collapse all- JD, cum laude, University of Wisconsin Law School, 2010
- MA, summa cum laude, Political Science, Ohio University, 2007
- BA, summa cum laude, Political Science and Women's Studies, Ohio University (Honors Tutorial College), 2007
- Texas State Bar
Ms. Dahlberg frequently represents broker/dealers and financial advisors in internal investigations, regulatory examinations and inquiries, and in arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Representative financial services and investigations matters include:
- Represented a Texas bank in nearly one dozen class action disputes claiming $1B+ in damages concerning the bank's practices related to CARES Act loan practices. Successfully obtained dismissals of all actions and aided joint defense efforts to defeat requests for multi-district litigation across multiple financial services providers and thousands of individual plaintiffs.
- Won a complete defense verdict at arbitration in favor of one of the nation's oldest financial services providers, representing both its bank and brokerage wherein customers alleged fraud and breach of fiduciary duties to a vulnerable investor, resulting in FINRA safe-harbor rule regarding a broker/dealer's rights to freeze accounts if it suspects elder abuse.
- Successfully resolved multiple arbitration matters involving margin deficits resulting from GME and meme stock market volatility.
- Defended financial institutions against claims that they aided and abetted fraudulent Ponzi schemes allegedly perpetrated by their customers.
- Served as on-site acting in-house counsel for a FINRA and SEC-registered broker/dealer during strategic corporate initiative and asset sale.
Ms. Dahlberg also represents nationwide and local businesses in connection with contract, fraud, fiduciary duty, and trade secret litigation, including:
- Defense of corporate directors and officers accused of usurping corporate opportunities involving tens of thousands of acres of oil leases in a jury trial, resulting in an ultimate zero award to Plaintiff.
- Defense of hospital systems in disputes involving alleged fraudulent inducement and sharing of trade secrets in connection with procurement contracts.
- Defense of companies and employees accused of breaching restrictive covenants (including non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and non-competition provisions).
- Representation of stakeholders in business divorces and complex contract disputes at trial.
- Top 50 Up-And-Coming Women Attorneys, Texas Lawyer, 2023-2024
- Texas Rising Star, Business Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2023
- Texas Rising Star, Civil Litigation Defense, Thomson Reuters, 2014 - 2021
- Top 100 Attorneys, Texas Rising Star, Thomson Reuters, 2020, 2023-2024
- Top Attorneys – Commercial Litigation, San Antonio Magazine, 2022
- Best S.A. Lawyers – Business Litigation, San Antonio Scene Magazine, 2017 - 2022
- Best S.A. Lawyers – Securities Litigation, San Antonio Scene Magazine, 2020
- Belva Lockwood Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, Bexar County Women's Bar Association, 2018
- Author, "Command of the Field: The Precision Plays that Shape a Career," San Antonio Lawyer, May/June 2024
- Author, "Glass Everywhere: Reflections on Waiting for our First Female Vice President," San Antonio Lawyer, January/February 2021
- Author, "Beyond Teas and Spas: A Richer Understanding of Women and Mothers in the Law," San Antonio Lawyer, November/December 2019
- Author, "Fines to flourish as FINRA draws on reserves to tackle budget shortfall?" Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, April 2019
- Author, "Are You My Fiduciary? Informal Fiduciary Litigation in Texas," Texas Lawyer, June 15, 2017
- Co-author, "Fighting Elder Abuse And Defending The Decision To Freeze," Law360, June 21, 2016
- "To Keep a Client, Keep Interests Aligned and Avoid Preference Pitfalls," The Journal of Corporate Renewal, May 2015
- "Managing Complex Commercial Litigation," The San Antonio Lawyer, July-August 2014
- "Bankruptcy Court Jurisdiction and Recoupment: Not Just a 'Claim' by Any Other Name," The Journal of Corporate Renewal, July 2011
- "Vendor Risk Management in Complex Matters," Association of Corporate Counsel, 2020
- "Blockchain for Beginners: Real Estate Edition," TexasBarCLE, San Antonio, TX, July 11, 2019
- "The Matriarchy is Coming: On Mothering and BigLaw," Ohio University Department of Women Gender and Sexuality Studies, Homecoming Keynote Speaker, November 2018
- "Internal Investigations: Best Practices," multiple engagements, including the Association of Corporate Counsel, December 2017
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting Litigation," San Antonio Compliance Roundtable, Austin Compliance Roundtable, November 2016
- "Bad Customer Risk," various San Antonio financial institutions, 2014-2017
- "Law School 101," Ohio University Honors Tutorial College, 2012
Ms. Dahlberg is a proud alumna of the inaugural class of the Bexar County Women's Bar Foundation LEAD Academy and serves on its Steering Committee. Ms. Dahlberg is also a graduate of Leadership San Antonio (Class 40). For many years, she served on the Board of Directors of Clarity Child Guidance Center, the only non-profit mental health treatment center for children and adolescents in South Texas.
In her time away from the office, she enjoys baking and spending time with her husband, Bryan, and their two children.
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