Overview
Zila's practice focuses on counselling domestic and foreign clients on the regulations and guidance of the federal financial regulators, particularly the banking agencies, and assisting in the development and implementation of effective compliance solutions. Zila has experience assisting financial institutions in identifying and addressing legal, supervisory and reputational issues in connection with transactions, government inquiries and internal investigations. She also advises clients on issues related to financial regulatory reform, assisting in their participation in the rule-making process and outreach to domestic regulatory authorities and international standard-setting bodies.
Professional experience
Zila is an anti-money laundering and U.S. sanctions specialist. Zila is an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School, teaching a course in anti-money laundering. Before joining Linklaters she worked at another large U.S. Law Firm and at Goldman Sachs.
She is also a member of the Líderes Board of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a national not-for-profit Latino civil rights legal defense fund, and a deputy president for Region II of the Hispanic National Bar Association. In 2022, Zila was named a Hispanic National Bar Association Top Lawyer Under 40 and received Columbia Law School’s Latinx Law Student Association’s Private Sector Award. In 2017, Zila received the Puerto Rican Bar Association’s Flor De Maga award as a rising legal star. She is fluent in Spanish.
Education and qualifications
Ms. Acosta-Grimes received a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2015. She was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an article editor for the Columbia Law Review. She received a B.A. from Columbia College at Columbia University in 2011.
