By: Suzi Baugh
Beginning in Spring 2026, Yuliya Guseva will join the faculty at the Florida State University College of Law, bringing deep expertise in capital markets, financial regulation, and emerging technologies. She comes to FSU Law from Rutgers Law School, where she served as a Professor of Law and directed the Fintech and Blockchain Program.
Professor Guseva’s work examines how legal systems respond to innovation—particularly in moments when technology reshapes how capital is raised, traded, and regulated. Her teaching includes Capital Markets and Corporate Law, Financial Regulation, International Law, Fintech, and Cryptoassets. Professor Guseva breaks down these deeply complex subjects into approachable examples using real-world context, helping students—regardless of background—understand how markets function, where risks arise, and why lawyers matter in moments of economic change.
Alongside her teaching and scholarship, Professor Guseva is developing conferences and collaborative initiatives that connect students with regulators, industry leaders, and scholars, reinforcing FSU Law’s growing role in forward-looking legal education.
Q: You’ve built a career at the intersection of law, finance, and technology. What first drew you to that space?
A: Technology shapes nearly every part of our lives. It affects how lawyers practice, how investors trade, and how companies raise capital to grow.
Consider a startup founded by recent graduates developing a new idea. How do they fund it? Family and friends may help. Banks are often reluctant to lend. Capital markets become a critical option. Technology can lower the cost of accessing those markets, expand the pool of investors, and reduce reliance on expensive intermediaries, such as investment banks.
But technology also creates opportunities for abuse. Innovation can be used to mislead investors just as easily as it can be used to create value. That tension—between growth and risk—is where law and regulation become essential.
Q: What experiences shaped your path to FSU Law?
A: Many people and events influenced my career, but the financial crisis of 2007–08 stands out. It was the most severe economic collapse since the Great Depression. While the recovery came more quickly, the damage was profound. Thousands of Americans lost their homes, often because of financial fraud, and the economic system survived only through extraordinary government intervention.
That period reinforced for me the central role that finance and financial regulation play in the well-being of ordinary people. After completing my doctoral work, I joined Columbia Law School as a postdoctoral fellow in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets program. My mentors there helped shape how I combine legal analysis with economic reasoning—an approach that continues to guide my teaching and research.
Q: What excites you most about joining the FSU College of Law?
A: FSU Law’s business law faculty are widely respected, both for their scholarship and for the breadth of their work. Joining this community is an honor.
I am particularly excited about the opportunity to help prepare students for a profession that is evolving rapidly. Law today increasingly requires comfort with markets, regulation, and technology. My goal is to help students build that foundation, so they are ready to adapt and succeed.
Q: What do you hope students take away from your classes?
A: I teach demanding subjects—financial regulation, securities law, business organizations, and technology law. Not every student arrives with a finance background, and I work to bridge that gap.
What matters is that students leave understanding not just the rules, but the reasons behind them. That they can see both sides of every issue and know why we regulate the way we do. What problems are these rules trying to solve? And seeing the logic behind the rules. With that perspective, students can work effectively in private practice, serve at regulatory agencies, or contribute to the improvement of legal frameworks over time.
Q: What do you enjoy most about teaching and mentoring law students?
A: I have been teaching for 14 years, and I think of my students as future colleagues. They are the lawyers who will shape the profession.
I value discussion and engagement in the classroom. I learn from my students as much as they learn from me. Over time, that exchange has changed how I teach and deepened my understanding of the law itself.
Q: How do technologies like fintech and blockchain change the way lawyers think about regulation?
A: Fintech means financial technology. It includes everything from trading apps to payment systems. Blockchain is one type of technology within that broader category. I often describe it as infrastructure—a system for recording and executing transactions.
There is no single body of “fintech law.” Instead, we apply existing legal frameworks—such as securities law, commodities regulation, banking, and payments law—to new technologies. Lawyers need to understand both how the technology works and how these legal tools operate in practice.
Q: What should everyone understand about cryptoassets right now?
A: Most assets today exist in digital form, and cryptoassets are part of that evolution. As with any new technology, there are cycles of experimentation, growth, and correction. We saw this with the internet in the late 1990s.
Cryptoassets can offer real benefits, including faster and more efficient transfers of value. At the same time, they raise serious concerns related to fraud, money laundering, and systemic risk. The key question is how to regulate responsibly, supporting practical innovation while protecting investors and the broader economy.
Q: What role do lawyers play in governing new technologies?
A: Law has always been central to the stability of the American economy. Congress sets statutory frameworks, and regulatory agencies develop and enforce the rules that apply those laws in practice.
Lawyers are essential in making sure regulations strike the right balance. We need to strike a balance between avoiding unnecessary barriers to innovation and protecting consumers and markets. That balance is difficult, but it is where lawyers add real value.
Q: What advice would you give students interested in business or technology law who don’t see themselves as “numbers people”?
A: You do not need to be a finance expert to be an effective business lawyer. Technology can handle many calculations.
What matters is understanding the concepts and terminology—knowing what the numbers represent and why they matter. That knowledge allows lawyers to participate meaningfully in transactions, work effectively on deal teams, and serve clients well.
Q: Were there mentors who influenced your teaching and research approach?
A: My mentors at Columbia Law School and Fordham Law School were incredibly influential. They shaped how I approach law and economics, how I think about research methods, and how I teach.
Above all, they emphasized that students must always come first. That principle has guided me throughout my career.
Q: What do you hope students and colleagues at FSU Law will come to know about you?
A: FSU Law has a strong sense of collegiality, and I look forward to contributing to that culture. I plan to develop new courses, produce meaningful scholarship, and organize conferences that connect students with leaders in industry and regulation.
My door is always open to students with questions about business law, career paths, or life more generally. Outside of work, I enjoy learning about new technologies and playing classical piano, especially music by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Beethoven.