Stephanie Avakian > WilmerHale > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036
United States
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Stephanie Avakian
Position
Partner
- Chair, Securities and Financial Services Department
Career
As the former Director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, Stephanie Avakian is well positioned to help clients address the enforcement, governance and compliance issues presented by today’s markets. With decades of experience in government and private practice, she leads the firm’s Securities and Financial Services Department in counseling and defending public companies, investment banks, asset management firms, accounting firms, boards of directors and individual executives through the challenges of government investigations.
As Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, Ms. Avakian oversaw the Division’s approximately 1,400 professionals and staff. During her four years leading the Division, the SEC brought more than 3,000 enforcement actions, obtained judgments and orders for more than $17 billion in penalties and disgorgement, and returned approximately $3.6 billion to harmed investors. Matters under Ms. Avakian’s direction concerned a wide range of issues including insider trading, financial fraud and disclosure violations, auditor and accounting issues, market structure, asset management, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She also led the Enforcement Division in confronting novel issues at the forefront of the markets today, such as initial coin offerings, digital assets, and cybersecurity. Throughout her tenure, Ms. Avakian took steps to increase the Division’s efficiency by implementing strategies to decrease the length of investigations, streamline the process for returning money to harmed investors, and expedite the review of whistleblower claims. Ms. Avakian also worked closely with other leaders at numerous federal, foreign and state agencies including the Department of Justice, CFTC, FINRA, CFPB, UK Financial Conduct Authority, and Office of the New York Attorney General.
Ms. Avakian’s experience addressing issues faced by financial services institutions and public companies date back to her previous 14-year tenure at WilmerHale. Before leaving the firm for the SEC in 2014, she served as vice chair of WilmerHale’s Securities Department. Throughout her time in various leadership roles, Ms. Avakian has emphasized the importance of diversity and inclusion. Most recently, during her tenure at the SEC, the Enforcement Division increased the number of women and minorities in senior officer positions.
Ms. Avakian began her legal career working in various capacities at the SEC, including as counsel to former Commissioner Paul R. Carey and as a branch chief and staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement. Her experience and understanding of the government’s priorities and processes position her well to guide clients successfully through government investigations.
Education
- JD, Temple University Beasley School of Law, 1995
- BA, Trenton State College, 1992
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
WilmerHale’s deep bench of securities litigators and regulatory enforcement specialists is frequently involved in high-stakes matters involving securities laws and rules of corporate governance actively litigated by government agencies, regulatory bodies and private parties. The firm has a presence across the US, notably in its California, New York, Boston and Washington DC offices. Stephanie Avakian in DC is chair of the securities and financial services department. Michael Bongiorno in New York and DC-based Matthew Martens co-chair the securities litigation and enforcement group. Kevin Muck and Susan Muck in San Francisco represented AnaptysBio in a class action alleging that its officers made false and misleading statements regarding one of the its drugs, etokimab, and in a derivative suit claiming that the directors breached their fiduciary duties. Up-and-coming partner Timothy Perla in Boston worked with Bongiorno to defend IVERIC bio, Inc. in a class action alleging that the company issued deceptively positive results about the success and potential of its treatment Fovista despite knowing that the Phase 3 clinical trial of the drug would be unsuccessful in achieving its primary endpoint.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Antitrust > Cartel
- International Trade > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Government > Government contracts
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- International Trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Government > Government relations
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Environment > Environment: litigation