SEC Defense

McDermott’s SEC Enforcement Defense Group is composed of lawyers across the country, including former senior members of the SEC Division of Enforcement, all of whom have substantial experience covering the full spectrum of securities enforcement activity. Our lawyers have the current, cutting edge knowledge about the SEC, its organization, rules, practices, customs and staff. Our lawyers have extensive experience with the Chairman, Commissioners, Senior Enforcement Officers and General Counsel. We have represented the largest financial services firms, broker dealers, investment advisors, hedge funds, public companies, accounting firms, underwriters, audit committees and officers, directors and senior management in investigations and enforcement proceedings brought by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), stock exchanges, and other self-regulatory organizations, as well as various state securities enforcement agencies.

Our SEC Enforcement Defense Group represents clients in all aspects of SEC and other regulatory investigations. Group lawyers have been successful in deterring the SEC at various stages of enforcement investigations, including the initial inquiry stage, the formal investigation stage and the Wells process stage. Our Group frequently persuades the SEC either not to take any action against our clients or to reduce the nature and scope of the charges, including the elimination of fraud based charges.

We have substantial appellate experience representing clients in appeals of administrative decisions to the SEC and to the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. We have also persuaded the SEC to appear as amicus curiae in favor of a client’s position in private securities litigation.

Our group also represents clients in post-investigation enforcement proceedings, both federal and state, including criminal, civil and administrative actions. Group lawyers regularly represent clients in civil enforcement proceedings in federal district courts, in cases involving requests for permanent injunctions, motions for temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and various forms of ancillary relief, such as the appointment of receivers, asset freezes, disgorgement, civil money penalties, and officer and director bars. Our representation also includes clients in administrative enforcement proceedings at both the state and federal levels. Many of these cases involve serious licensure issues and a wide array of possible regulatory sanctions.

In addition to representing clients in civil enforcement proceedings, our SEC Enforcement Defense Group lawyers have substantial experience representing clients in parallel investigations by civil and criminal law enforcement agencies, and in civil investigations that implicate possible criminal liability. In fact, 27 of our lawyers are former senior prosecutors/enforcement lawyers at the DOJ, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the SEC, and 37 others have significant trial experience at other government agencies including the FTC, IRS, CFTC, Department of Commerce and Department of Treasury. McDermott’s International White-Collar Practice Group is nationally ranked and is one of the largest in the United States. Our lawyers are based across the Firm’s 16 offices, including Shanghai, and are experienced in DOJ and SEC enforcement “hot spots” around the world. We are able to assist clients, and their expanding operations in international markets, with matters involving anti-money laundering, antitrust fraud, tax fraud and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as well as with matters involving the False Claims Act (FCA) and Qui Tam litigation.

Our lawyers have unrivalled experience, both civil and criminal, as they have successfully tried several federal district court enforcement proceedings, and both state and federal administrative proceedings, to verdict. This experience redounds to our clients’ benefit in all cases, whether settled or tried.

In addition, we have extensive experience in private class action and derivative litigation, which often accompany securities-related investigations and disputes. Our lawyers often coordinate highly complex litigation involving civil enforcement proceedings, criminal proceedings, class and derivative actions and bankruptcy filings.

We also have conducted numerous internal investigations for companies and their boards of directors in North and South America, Europe, South and East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Our attorneys have conducted these confidential investigations to assess the nature and extent of suspected misconduct. McDermott’s significant experience and reputation in conducting internal investigations accrues to our clients’ benefit.

We advise clients on whether to conduct an internal investigation, if so, how investigations should be organized, who should control it, how to best preserve information, how to best protect privilege, how to minimize disruptions to the client, whether the investigation should be shared with government authorities, whether a written report should be prepared, and whether the investigation should be disclosed publicly, and if so, when. We work with clients to assess the implications of employees’ alleged misconduct, criminal or otherwise, and advise company officers on how to handle matters of non-compliance. We also advise clients on how to avoid criminal liability exposure, prior to any allegation of wrongdoing. Additionally, we create compliance reviews focusing on meeting or exceeding the standards established by the SEC, self regulatory organizations, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations and on compliance with all local laws and regulations.