About Julie Kamps
With over 26 years of unparalleled legal experience, Julie E. Kamps, Esq. has established herself as an authority across a vast range of corporate and securities law matters. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Julie has a wide range of experience in microcap business combinations, financings, including exempt and non-exempt offerings, mergers and acquisitions, asset and stock purchase transactions, corporate law, SEC and FINRA enforcement matters, registered investment adviser and investment adviser representative compliance and reporting, broker-dealer and associated person compliance and reporting, state and federal securities law advising, internal investigations, and in-house general counsel.
Her early career began at a prestigious international law firm in New York, where she specialized in securities litigation, intellectual property disputes, and complex commercial litigation. Julie adeptly represented corporate boards and executives in high-profile securities class actions, derivative suits, M&A litigation, and hostile takeover disputes. Her litigation expertise spanned every phase, from pretrial discovery to appellate advocacy, and she played a pivotal role in important corporate governance and class action securities fraud cases.
As General Counsel for twelve years at a boutique financial services firm, which included an investment bank, broker-dealer, and registered investment adviser, Julie deftly navigated the intricacies of corporate governance, transactional law, and regulatory oversight. Her legal stewardship spanned a broad range of corporate transactions, including negotiating and drafting transactional documents and filings. She was instrumental in representing the firm in SEC and FINRA enforcement matters, ensuring compliance across all regulatory frameworks, including securities laws and broker-dealer regulations.
Julie’s experience is further distinguished by her extensive involvement in capital markets transactions, where she has acted as placement agent counsel for private equity and debt deals and worked on acquisitions of and listings of companies on the Nasdaq and OTC Markets, guiding clients through complex capital-raising efforts while ensuring compliance with federal securities laws. She provides strategic guidance on structuring offerings, ensuring compliance with federal securities laws, and navigating the regulatory landscape governed by the SEC, FINRA, and other enforcement bodies.
A lifelong scholar, Julie graduated summa cum laude and class valedictorian from the University of Pittsburgh Honors College, earning a Bachelor of Philosophy in philosophy and history with a perfect 4.0 GPA, before graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School. While at the University of Pittsburgh Honors College, she was awarded the prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Younger Scholar Award and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Her legal training was honed through rigorous academic competitions, including her distinction for Best Appellee Brief in Harvard Law School’s renowned Ames Moot Court Competition. Julie has also pursued advanced knowledge in emerging areas of technology and finance, having audited continuing professional education courses such as BerkeleyX’s Blockchain Technology (2019), Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies (2019), and HKUx’s Introduction to FinTech (2022).
Julie is also a committed advocate for underserved populations, having done extensive pro bono work, including representing indigent women in connection with orders of protection and divorce proceedings, representing an artist who was a victim of Hurricane Katrina in a personal bankruptcy, serving as Fundraiser for the New York Legal Aid Society’s Associates Campaign and earning an Honorable Mention Award for amount raised, and participating in the Public Law Center of Orange County’s 2011 Access to Justice Week by serving as an in-take volunteer.
Admitted to practice in New York, California, and various U.S. District and Appeals Courts, Julie is a trusted legal advisor known for her strategic acumen, intellectual rigor, and commitment to excellence. She continues to advise on the most complex legal challenges facing businesses today, providing clients with the depth of experience and insight necessary to succeed in an ever-evolving legal and regulatory environment.
About Grace DeStefano
Grace DeStefano is a Cornell University freshman pursuing a major in Industrial and Labor Relations with a minor in Business. A graduate of The Winsor School in Boston, Grace demonstrated academic excellence and leadership throughout high school. She was Captain of the Varsity Soccer team and was a three-season varsity athlete, showcasing her commitment to teamwork and leadership. Outside of athletics, Grace served as Treasurer and President of Winsor’s Speech and Debate Club during her junior and senior years. Grace was chosen by her school’s Wellness Committee as a Peer Mentor for lower school students seeking support. She valued community engagement and wrote for her high school newspaper, The Banner, for all four years. Grace demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. In 2022, she was selected to represent her school at the esteemed NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Beyond her school activities, Grace spent the past four summers working for Debate Camp, an international camp based in Canada. In the Summer of 2024, she became one of the youngest Assistant Camp Directors in the organization’s history, where she played a critical role in interviewing candidates, reviewing resumes, designing the curriculum, and instructing and coaching students in parliamentary debate and public speaking. Her experience further honed her leadership skills and deepened her passion for fostering public speaking and debate talent in youth.
Grace remains an active leader at Cornell and is involved in several campus organizations. She is Treasurer of the Community Partnership Funding Board, a program that is part of Cornell’s Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. As treasurer, she oversees budget tracking for community service and social justice project grants totaling over $30,000 per semester. Grace analyzes grant applications, conducts interviews, and collaborates with the Einhorn Center to optimize funding decisions and maintain fiscal sustainability. She deeply enjoys working directly with grantees and community partners to support their initiatives and give back to the Ithaca community. Grace is also a member of Cornell’s premier professional pre-law fraternity, Kappa Alpha Pi. She has a passion for the legal profession. She is currently going through the fraternity’s New Member Education Process, which includes weekly debates, resume workshops, public speaking workshops, presentation workshops, career panels, alumni panels, mock trials, and weekly coffee chats with brothers..
Grace is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive community at Cornell. She was elected to represent the Cornell Class of 2028 on Cornell Class Councils and is a member of the ILR Women’s Caucus. On Class Councils, Graces plans free and creative events open for all Cornell students. In the ILR Women’s Caucus, she collaborates with peers to foster a supportive community for women at the ILR School through regular meetings and engagement initiatives.
Grace’s practice areas of interest are compliance and privacy policy matters, where she will assist in navigating regulatory requirements and data protection laws. She will gain experience in drafting and reviewing privacy policies, ensuring businesses align with legal standards, and advising on compliance strategies to mitigate risk.