LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – Former SEC and FINRA Attorney Joins Washington Office
Washington, D.C. – February 4, 2008 – Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Ivan B. Knauer, a former SEC enforcement lawyer and, most recently, Vice President and Managing Trial Counsel for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), has rejoined the firm as a partner in the Washington office.
“We are delighted to welcome Ivan back to Pepper,” said David A. Wormser, the partner in charge of the firm’s Washington office. “He has years of experience in securities litigation and enforcement, and he has much to offer clients as they navigate the current securities regulatory environment, including those affected by the fallout from the subprime mortgage credit crisis. He is the perfect lawyer to help build our depth in the SEC and FINRA regulatory fields in the Washington office.”
Mr. Knauer focuses his practice on securities litigation, securities enforcement and general commercial litigation. He represents public companies, broker-dealers, investment companies, investment advisers and individuals in class actions and arbitrations, and in enforcement matters brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA and other regulatory bodies. He also counsels financial institutions on regulatory compliance matters.
As a member of Pepper’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group, Mr. Knauer’s practice complements – and he will work with – several other groups at the firm, including the Credit Crisis Response Team, which was formed recently to respond to the credit crisis precipitated by the subprime mortgage market meltdown, and the Investment Management, Corporate Governance, and White Collar and Corporate Investigations practices.
Mr. Knauer’s experience includes litigating a case involving market timing by brokers through variable annuity sub-accounts, defending a large mutual fund complex in a class action involving valuation of assets in the funds’ portfolio, defending clients in connection with regulatory inquiries involving revenue sharing, late trading and market timing, and, while serving as senior counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in Washington, bringing an action involving sales practices in the sale of mutual funds.
“I couldn’t be happier to be practicing again at Pepper,” said Mr. Knauer. “The firm’s securities litigation and enforcement practice is strong and getting stronger, and includes a team of alumni from various U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the SEC. It’s good to be back.”
Mr. Knauer previously was a partner with Pepper from 2003 until 2005, when he left to join Bingham McCutchen and then, subsequently, FINRA (successor to NASD, Inc. and NYSE Regulation, Inc.), where he was Vice President and Managing Trial Counsel before his departure in January 2008. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart in Washington, D.C., and senior counsel in the Enforcement Division of the SEC, where he led investigations into insider trading and other securities law violations.
Mr. Knauer received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983, and his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1989. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts and New York.
About Pepper Hamilton
Pepper Hamilton LLP (www.pepperlaw.com) is a multi-practice law firm with more than 500 lawyers in seven states and the District of Columbia. The firm provides corporate, litigation and regulatory legal services to leading businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations and individuals throughout the nation and the world. The firm was founded in 1890.
