Spotlighting Goodwin's SEC Alumni

Goodwin lawyers boast several decades of combined experience serving at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) across nearly all of its divisions and at all levels of seniority, including: a former counsel to one of the SEC commissioners, a former assistant chief counsel and acting co-chief counsel in the Division of Enforcement, and a former chief counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance. We draw on these extensive backgrounds to counsel financial institutions, public companies, startups, and investors on regulatory, policy, transactional, enforcement, and strategic matters concerning the SEC and other regulators.

Check out our SEC alumni bios below:

Jonathan Hecht is a partner in DC who spent more than a decade in the SEC Division of Enforcement, eventually serving as acting co-chief counsel, where he was responsible for making key assessments and providing advice on critical legal and policy determinations at issue in high-priority investigations and litigations. Jonathan counsels clients on investigations by the SEC, compliance with the federal securities laws and regulations, and securities-related private civil actions.

Dave Lynn is a partner in DC who has nearly a decade of SEC experience, including serving as a former chief counsel of the Division of Corporation Finance where he advised on interpretive questions and requests for no-action relief, and led the rulemaking team for rules related to executive compensation and related party transaction disclosures. Dave leads Goodwin’s Public Company Advisory practice and advises companies, boards of directors, and underwriters on regulatory matters, securities transactions, and corporate governance.

David Roberts is partner in Boston who served as counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance, assisting registrants in complying with Securities Act, Exchange Act, and Sarbanes-Oxley Act disclosure and certification requirements. David counsels REITs and other clients on ongoing corporate and securities law matters, including IPOs, follow-on and shelf offerings, 144A offerings of equity and debt securities, and mergers and acquisitions.

Karen Ubell is a partner in San Francisco who spent several years at the SEC as special counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance, where she advised on registered offerings of structured securities products and novel securities. Karen is now a co-chair of Goodwin’s Digital Currency & Blockchain practice and focuses primarily on transactions and regulatory compliance in connection with the implementation and adoption of novel technologies, including blockchain, distributed networks, cryptocurrencies, and digital assets.

Folake Ayoola is a counsel in DC who served for more than a decade as senior counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance, advising on corporate transactions and disclosures under the Securities Act and Exchange Act. Folake advises clients on the full range of SEC reporting and compliance requirements, corporate governance issues and best practices, ESG matters, securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, proxy contests, tender offers, going-private transactions, and NYSE and Nasdaq compliance issues.

Jon Burr is a counsel in DC who previously served in the Division of Corporation Finance reviewing a variety of Securities Act and Exchange Act filings by companies in numerous industries. Jon counsels public companies on a full range of issues, including compliance with the reporting obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, corporate governance issues and best practices, and compliance with NYSE and Nasdaq requirements.

Christopher Grobbel is a counsel in DC who spent nearly a decade at the SEC as special counsel in both the Division of Trading and Markets and Division of Examinations (formerly OCIE). Chris advised on matters related to trading, SRO rulemaking, market structure, and policy and lead examinations of FINRA related to its oversight of broker-dealers. Chris advises broker-dealers and exchanges on regulatory and compliance matters, including during examinations and investigations.

Jacqueline Kaufman is a counsel in DC who spent nearly a decade as counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance, advising on corporate transactions and disclosures under the Securities Act and Exchange Act. Jacqueline advises clients on a full range of securities law and corporate governance matters, including ongoing SEC reporting and compliance, IPOs, secondary offerings, SPAC transactions, mergers and acquisitions, proxy contests, shareholder activism, shareholder proposals, cybersecurity disclosures, ESG matters and NYSE and Nasdaq rules.

Daniel Ji is an associate in DC who spent approximately six years as senior counsel in the Division of Examinations, focusing on examinations of investment advisers and investment companies. Daniel counsels registered, reporting, and unregistered investment advisers and managers, including hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, institutional, real estate managers, and retail asset managers on a variety of SEC regulatory filings and compliance matters, including representing investment advisers and funds in SEC examinations and investigations.