Edward A. Marshall

Partner

Direct: 404.873.8536
Fax: 404.873.8537
Atlanta
171 17th Street NW
Suite 2100
Atlanta, Georgia 30363

Biography

Ed is a fintech lawyer with more than a decade of experience representing merchant acquirers and financial technology firms in litigation, regulatory, and commercial matters. He founded and now co-chairs the Payment Systems & Fintech industry team and is a past co-chair of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice group.

As part of his nationwide practice, Ed has secured major litigation and regulatory wins for acquiring banks, payment processors, independent sales organizations (“ISOs”), independent software vendors (“ISVs”), and payment facilitators. These include defending multiple class actions, regulatory enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), as well as prosecuting and defending countless disputes with merchants and referral partners.

Ultimately, nothing informs regulatory compliance and commercial negotiations better than spending decades in the trenches. As a reflection of that reality, Ed frequently leverages his litigation experience and immersion in the payments industry to help clients develop defensible underwriting and risk monitoring programs, evaluate MTL exposure, respond to regulatory inquiries, and more effectively negotiate commercial agreements.

Ed has been fortunate to be recognized by The Best Lawyers in America®, Chambers and Partners, Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, and the Daily Report’s “40 Under 40.” He is an active participant in the Electronic Transactions Association (“ETA”) and previously served on the board of directors for the Association of Payment Professionals (“APP”).

Related Services

Related Industries

Experience

  • Successfully resolved two-year FTC investigation and enforcement action against merchant acquirer with no individual liability or monetary payment.
  • Defeated certification of putative class action against petroleum company and payment processor related to allegedly flawed implementation of a card-brand Real Time Clearing (RTC) program. See Teggerdine, 2018 WL 2451248 (M.D. Fla. 2018).
  • Secured summary judgment dismissing fraud, contract, and unjust enrichment claims against payment processors based on the imposition of allegedly improper fees in putative merchant class actions. See Braids R Us 305, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 236828 (N.D. Ga. 2022); Alghadeer Bakery & Mkt., Inc., 2018 WL 5016496 (N.D. Ga. 2018).
  • Successfully represented payment processor in contempt action brought by the FTC and court-appointed receiver involving challenge to use of reserve funds to fund consumer-initiated chargebacks.
  • Successfully defended claims brought against the acquiring bank by a former ISO in action seeking more than $200 million in damages, resulting in the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal on the eve of trial and obtaining more than $1 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
  • Secured dismissal of suit seeking to hold digital wallet provider liable for alleged software defects leading to the misappropriation of more than $10 million in digital assets. Soares, 2024 WL 4289550 (N.D. Ga. 2024).
  • Secured early dismissal of claims against a processor and sponsor bank seeking to recover a seven-figure loss following the account takeover (ATO) and business email compromise (BEC) event.
  • Obtained TRO preventing ISO partner from thwarting migration of hundreds of merchants to an alternative payment processor and, thereafter, negotiated a favorable conclusion to the parties’ business relationship.
  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of payment processor in adversary proceeding involving challenge to recoupment of card-brand liability assessment following data breach at merchant location.
  • Secured dismissal of multimillion-dollar claims against payment processor by referral partner, including claims for breach of contract, conversion, unjust enrichment, negligence, and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty. See Global Cash Network, Inc., 148 F. Supp. 3d 716 (N.D. Ill. 2015).
  • Successfully defended and prosecuted the rights of payment processors in litigation with former merchants, including, e.g., in disputes involving early termination of merchant agreements, unreimbursed chargebacks, and alleged misdirection of merchant funds. See, e.g., Worldwide Capital Holdings Corp., 2022 Ga. Super. LEXIS 2097 (Ga. Super. Ct. 2022).
  • Secured judgment on behalf of an international investor against the perpetrator of a complex money laundering and pyramid fraud scheme.
  • Defeated claims against a card issuer for allegedly improper resolution of chargebacks in favor of a merchant, securing a seven-figure recovery against the business cardholder.
  • Successfully represented card issuer in a variety of actions alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and the terms of the cardmember agreement.
  • Advised merchant acquirers and fintech clients regarding a range of payments issues, including FTC and CFPB enforcement priorities, permissibility of surcharging, money transmission licensure (MTL), and high-risk merchant processing.
  • Supported creation and redrafting of merchant and partner agreements on behalf of several payment processors and payment facilitators.
  • Obtained Article 37 emergency measures of protection before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) and, shortly thereafter, successfully resolved a multimillion-dollar controversy between an international manufacturer and an American distributor.
  • Successfully represented an aerostructures supplier in multimillion-dollar controversies with a business jet manufacturer and aerostructures component manufacturer.
  • Secured $2.5 million award on behalf of German-based respondents in a three-week JAMS arbitration involving claims for earnout payments under an asset purchase agreement.
  • Represented creditor in complex collections action involving the transfer of debtor’s assets to an asset protection trust using RICO, in combination with fraudulent transfer claims, to achieve recovery significantly in excess of the underlying judgment amount.
  • Represented the American College of Rheumatology as amicus in patent litigation before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, overturning an injunction against the introduction of a competitive gout-treatment drug. See Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. West-Ward Pharmaceutical Corporation et al., 785 F.3d 625 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
  • Obtained dismissal of a developer’s claims for breach of contract and tortious interference with fiduciary duties in a multimillion-dollar real estate dispute before a Georgia Superior Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals. See Perry Golf Course Development, LLC v. Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, 294 Ga. App. 387 (2008).
  • Obtained $6.7 million judgment on the pleadings in a controversy involving an asset purchase agreement and subordinated notes for a national equipment rental provider.
    Client Successes

    Credentials

    Education
    • University of Georgia School of Law, Juris Doctor,
      summa cum laude
      • Order of the Coif
      • Georgia Law Review, Notes Editor, 2002
    • Samford University, Bachelor of Science,
      summa cum laude
    Admissions
    • State of Georgia – 2002
    Court Admissions
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit – 2014
    • United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia – 2007
    • Supreme Court of Georgia – 2007
    • Georgia Court of Appeals – 2007
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit – 2003
    • United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia – 2003
    Associations
      • Association of Corporate Counsel of Georgia, Fintech Member Interest Group, 2024
      • Association of Payment Professionals, Board of Directors, 2021-23, 2023-25
      • American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Inaugural Co-Chair of Payment Systems Litigation Subcommittee, 2014-present
      • Electronic Transactions Association, Risk, Fraud & Security Committee, 2014-present
      • Atlanta Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education Committee, Chair, 2013-15
      • Georgia Bar Journal, Editorial Board, 2010-14

    Recognition

    • Benchmark Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation, 2024-26
    • Best Lawyers in America®, Commercial Litigation, 2023-26
    • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers, Litigation, 2022-25
    • Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
    • “40 Under 40: Georgia Attorneys On the Rise,” Daily Report, 2015
    • Master, The Clarke-Carley American Inn of Court
    • Georgia Super Lawyers, 2014-24
    • “Rising Star,” Georgia Super Lawyers, 2009-13
    • Law Clerk, Honorable Richard W. Story (N.D. Ga.), 2004-06

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