Ms. Cotter advises clients on regulatory strategy in areas including securities regulation, corporate governance, ESG, and cryptocurrency. Ms. Cotter has served as a compliance consultant in settlements involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission and assisted clients with compliance programs to comply with SEC and CFTC regulatory requirements. Ms. Cotter has also assisted in the preparation of expert witness reports for litigation on disclosure and other securities law issues.
Prior to joining Patomak, she served as tax policy adviser to U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA). In this role, she was responsible for carrying out the Senator’s policy agenda in the tax and budget areas and advising the Senator on his duties as a member of the Senate Finance and Senate Budget Committees. Ms. Cotter’s accomplishments included seeing through the passage of several of Senator Toomey’s priorities in the tax space including accelerated expense deductions for restaurant and retail establishments and the repeal of the medical device tax. She also worked with the Department of the Treasury to ensure that congressional intent was appropriately recognized in regulations promulgated under the tax reform legislation. Prior to her Senate service, Ms. Cotter served as legislative assistant on the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means majority tax staff, where she worked on the development and passage of the 2017 tax reform legislation.
Prior to working on Capitol Hill, Ms. Cotter worked as a tax associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in McLean, VA, where she prepared tax returns for clients including corporations, partnerships, and high-net worth individuals. While in law school, Ms. Cotter worked as a legal intern for SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, where she worked on regulatory issues related to ESG and cryptocurrency. Ms. Cotter also gained experience during law school working at regional law firm Maynard, Cooper and Gale supporting mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and real estate projects.
Ms. Cotter received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Commerce and Business Administration. She also holds a Master of Tax Accounting from the University of Alabama and is a Certified Public Accountant.