(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission added another partner from law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP to its senior ranks.
Stephanie Avakian, 44, will start next month as the agencys deputy director of enforcement, theSECsaid in a statement today. Avakian worked at the agency from 1995 to 1999 as an investigator and counsel to a commissioner.
Stephanie is widely respected because of her intelligence, her pragmatic approach, and her excellent judgment, the SECs enforcement director Andrew Ceresney said in a statement.
Avakian joins a long line of officials who have moved between the agency and WilmerHale, includingSECCommissioner Daniel Gallagher, General Counsel Anne Small and Stephen Luparello, the director of the trading and markets division, who were all partners at the law firm. Joseph Brenner, chief counsel for the enforcement division, was also a WilmerHale partner before joining theSECin 2010.
Since the beginning of last year, several seniorSECofficials have joined the firm, including Meredith Cross, former director of the corporation finance division, Mark Cahn, who served as general counsel, and Matthew Martens, the chief litigation counsel who left the agency shortly after winning the trial against Fabrice Tourre, one of the SECs most high-profile cases from the financial crisis.
At WilmerHale, Avakian has represented public companies, boards and individuals in a broad range of investigations before theSECand other regulators, according to the statement. Avakian, who is vice chair of WilmerHales securities practice, holds degrees from the College of New Jersey and Temple Universitys Beasley School of Law.
Avakian didnt immediately return a telephone message requesting comment.
