WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network — Larry P. Ellsworth has joined Jenner & Block as a Partner in the Firm’s Securities Litigation Practice. Most
recently Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel for the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission’s Trial Unit, Mr. Ellsworth is the 2004 winner of the
prestigious Stanley Sporkin Award, the highest award for enforcement efforts
at the SEC. Mr. Ellsworth brings more than 20 years of regulatory experience
to the Firm. He will be located in Jenner & Block’s Washington, D.C. office.
In awarding the Sporkin Award, the SEC recognized Mr. Ellsworth as one of
the best trial counsel to ever represent it. During his 12-year career at the
SEC, Mr. Ellsworth never lost a case, even though he carried one of the
heaviest caseloads and tried a number of the SEC’s most difficult cases.
For example, in 2004 Mr. Ellsworth completed a remarkable hat trick of
superb litigation victories. Most notably, a litigation team under his
supervision won a landmark decision following a 2-1/2 week trial in the
auditor independence proceeding that resulted in the longest suspension ever
of a major audit firm. Also, Mr. Ellsworth won — for the second time — a
jury verdict in a difficult circumstantial case of insider trading. He
additionally captained the team that won a precedent-setting summary judgment
in a major market manipulation case against 55 defendants.
“We are delighted that Larry is joining us,” said Managing Partner Gregory
S. Gallopoulos. “As one of the nation’s top securities trial lawyers, who has
led many of the most important SEC enforcement actions over the past decade,
Larry brings a wealth of experience and talent to our already strong
securities and litigation practice.”
Among Mr. Ellsworth’s numerous victories in prior years at the SEC was an
unprecedented order prohibiting joint trading arrangements among a major
investment company’s affiliates, where the company was charged with directing
investment opportunities from mutual funds to a private retirement fund for
management and employees. In the broker-dealer area, Mr. Ellsworth was a lead
litigator for the Enforcement Division in the only temporary cease-and-desist
proceeding ever brought. The result was the shutting down and liquidation of
A.R. Barron and subsequent criminal conviction of all of its principal
officers for fraud. Additionally, Mr. Ellsworth won summary judgments for
fraud in some of the earliest cases finding joint and several liability among
defendants, rejecting credits for business expenses in calculating
disgorgement, and justifying suits against relief defendants.
Mr. Ellsworth also had an illustrious career before joining the SEC in
1993. From 1990 to 1993, he was a Vice President and Director of Litigation
for a Fortune 50 Company. From 1985 to 1990, he was a partner in two
prominent Washington, D.C., law firms, where he represented a number of
financial institutions. From 1978 to 1985, he was head of Federal Court
litigation regarding petroleum price and allocation controls at the U.S.
Department of Energy. During his service at the Energy Department, he was the
lead litigator in U.S. v. Exxon Corp., in which the Court ordered the largest
judgment ever entered in a case brought by the United States — over $2
billion. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ellsworth practiced public interest law
and served on the staff of the Senate Ethics Committee for a special
investigation of bribery and influence peddling in the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Ellsworth obtained his law degree from Harvard Law School where he was
an editor on the Harvard Civil-Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review. He
additionally obtained a graduate law degree from the Georgetown University Law
Center. His undergraduate degree is in Economics from Michigan State
University.
