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Alyssa C. Scruggs

Associate

[email protected]

+1.617.348.1693

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Alyssa focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, financial services litigation, and white collar and government investigations, and class actions for clients across industries including financial services, technology, and insurance. She has expertise in the international trade and anti-money laundering space, particularly in assisting with the drafting and implementation of internal policies for clients looking to mitigate risk. She has experience in researching and drafting motions, discovery responses, and filings for federal and Massachusetts state court cases, as well as taking depositions, arguing motions and managing witnesses at trial. Alyssa has also worked on matters involving the Massachusetts consumer protection law, M.G.L. c. 93A, state and federal unfair competition laws, and antitrust laws. She has experience defending clients in mortgage and consumer banking cases, as well as in bankruptcy and related adversary proceedings.

She maintains an active pro bono practice providing legal representation to survivors of human trafficking in criminal matters and post-conviction relief proceedings, victims of domestic abuse and asylum seekers. She has given trainings and presentations on obtaining relief for survivors of human trafficking.

Prior to joining Mintz, Alyssa was an associate in the Boston office of an international law firm, where she handled litigation for a variety of clients, including a territorial instrumentality debtor. Earlier, she was an associate and summer associate in the Washington, DC office of a New York-based global law firm, where she advised clients on antitrust matters, white collar matters, and government and internal investigations. At each of those firms, she served as a mentor to summer associates and represented asylum seekers and other pro bono clients.

During law school, Alyssa served as an intern in the US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. She was also an intern in the Women’s Refugee Commission’s Washington, DC office and a law and policy intern at the Poverty & Race Research Action Council. In law school, she was the reactions editor for the Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives and served as a peer advisor and executive member of the Women’s Legal Alliance.

Before law school, Alyssa had an internship with a Massachusetts workers’ compensation law firm.

Experience

  • Successfully defended Citizens Bank against putative class allegations of aiding and abetting fraud and breach of fiduciary in connection with a $100 million Ponzi scheme. The Western District of NY dismissed the complaint, with prejudice.  The dismissal was upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • Represented a hedge fund in a case where a former employee claimed an ownership stake in the fund which our client contended was obtained through a breach of fiduciary duty. The case involved novel issues of law on fiduciary duty and wiretap law.
  • Represented a large financial services client in multiple disputes that have settled or been favorably resolved.
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viewpoints

Heightened Risk for Banks as Account Fees Land on “Junk Fee” Agenda

May 11, 2023 | Blog | By Keith Kollmeyer, Alyssa C. Scruggs, Caroline B. Enright

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It’s Going to be a Big Year for FINRA

March 21, 2023 | Blog | By Pete Michaels, Alyssa C. Scruggs

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It Gets BIgger: FINRA Joins the SEC In Bringing Reg BI Enforcement Actions

October 21, 2022 | Blog | By Pete Michaels, Alyssa C. Scruggs

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High Risk, No Reward: SEC’s First Reg BI Enforcement Action

June 21, 2022 | Blog | By Pete Michaels, Michael Pastore, Alyssa C. Scruggs

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Massachusetts Securities Division Lawsuit a Bullseye for Robinhood

April 5, 2022 | Blog | By Pete Michaels, Alyssa C. Scruggs

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Call it a Comeback: The Likely Return of ESG Investing in ERISA Accounts

June 4, 2021 | Blog | By Pete Michaels, Alyssa C. Scruggs

Environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) investing has experienced quite the regulatory roller coaster in recent years.
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Not So Fast: DOL Changes Course on Trump-Era ESG Investment Rule

March 22, 2021 | Blog | By Alyssa C. Scruggs

The United States Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) announced on March 10, 2021 that it will not enforce certain final rules put into place under President Trump related to environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) investing.
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News & Press

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BOSTON – Twenty-five Mintz attorneys have been named to Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers list.
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Mintz is pleased to announce that 32 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 27 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2023.
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Financial Services Co-chair Pete Michaels, Member Keith Kollmeyer, and Associate Alyssa Scruggs co-authored the Massachusetts Banking Brief for Law360.
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The Boston Bar Association published an article written by Associate Alyssa Scruggs which highlights her recent work for human trafficking survivors and the story behind the pending Sex Trade Survivors Act.
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Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
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BOSTON – Mintz is pleased to announce that Alyssa Scruggs is the recipient of the 2023 Richard Mintz Pro Bono Award for her work with survivors of human trafficking. This esteemed accolade, presented each year by the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, recognizes one attorney who exhibits exceptional dedication to pro bono work.
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Member and Co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Practice Pete Michaels and Associate Alyssa Scruggs co-authored an article published by Law360 discussing the action that FINRA has taken to bring Regulation Best Interest to life.
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In its second annual edition, 28 Mintz attorneys were named to Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers list.
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35 Mintz attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 25 Mintz attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2022.
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Mintz Member and Co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Practice Pete S. Michaels and Associate Alyssa C. Scruggs co-authored an article published by the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section examining the popularity of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing and an increase in the number of activist shareholder ESG litigations, which, using creative and novel legal theories, are starting to gain traction in the courts.
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In a recent article for The Real Estate Finance Journal, Member and Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Services Practice, Pete S. Michaels, Member Cory S. Flashner, and Associate Alyssa C. Scruggs, explore the recent increased focus on money-laundering risks in residential real estate transactions, including an overview of regulatory efforts to prevent money laundering.
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Recognition & Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America "Ones to Watch": Commercial Litigation (2024)
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Rising Star - Civil Litigation: Defense (2018-2023)
  • Boston Magazine Top Lawyers – Commercial Litigation (2022-2023)
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Involvement

  • Board of Directors, Resolve New England (2023 - present)
  • Board of Directors, CitySprouts 2021 - present)
  • Steering Committee, Society of 1918, College of William & Mary (2021 - present)
  • Member, Boston Bar Association (2017 – present)
  • Member, American Bar Association (2015 – present)
  • Former Member, Board of Directors, Alumni Association, College of William & Mary (2013 – 2016)
  • Former Chair, Young Guarde Council, College of William & Mary (2013 – 2016)
  • Former Member, Campaign Steering Committee, For the Bold, The Campaign for William & Mary (2015 – 2020)
  • Former Mentor, Public Interest Fellows Program, Georgetown University Law Center (2013 – 2019)
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