Whiteford attorneys represent public companies, broker-dealers, hedge funds, banks, accounting firms, and their officers, directors, and associated persons in high-stakes litigation, arbitration, and regulatory matters across the country.
Our litigators handle disputes arising under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, state "Blue Sky" statutes, and common law. Our clients range from Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies to individual officers, directors, auditors, and other "control persons," and we represent both plaintiffs and defendants in securities and financial services disputes.
We defend public companies, their officers and boards in class and derivative litigation involving alleged misrepresentations, accounting improprieties, insider trading, and merger-related fiduciary duty claims. Our experience spans equities and fixed income, options, mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, swaps, and open- and closed-end funds, and includes matters that proceed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
FINRA Arbitration and Financial Industry Disputes
We regularly represent broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment advisors, and their principals and associated persons—as both claimants and respondents—in arbitrations before FINRA, the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, and the International Chamber of Commerce, as well as in FINRA-sponsored mediations. These engagements include compensation and employment disputes, raiding and restrictive covenant claims, trade secret and misappropriation disputes, and allegations involving unsuitable investments, supervisory failures and, increasingly, cryptocurrency and digital-asset holdings.
SEC, CFTC, and DOJ Investigations and Enforcement
Our attorneys guide registered advisors, brokers, associated persons, issuers, public companies, and accounting firms through investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, as well as state securities regulators and boards of accountancy. We regularly negotiate resolutions in lieu of formal charges and understand the substantial interplay between government investigations and parallel civil litigation—including coordination with D&O insurance carriers on coverage, litigation strategy, and resolution of claims.
Internal Investigations
Corporations, boards of directors, and special board committees engage our attorneys to conduct sensitive internal investigations and reviews involving alleged accounting irregularities, whistleblower complaints, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, and other corporate governance and regulatory compliance concerns.
Advising Financial Services Businesses
Beyond litigation and arbitration, we counsel hedge funds, broker-dealers, domestic and foreign money managers, investment advisors, institutional advisors, private equity managers, and commodity pool operators on registration, compensation, disclosure, marketing, and other compliance requirements, and we draft and negotiate partnership, service, and compensation agreements for financial services clients, including multi-jurisdictional data protection and privacy issues.
Accountant's Liability and PCAOB Defense
We are one of relatively few firms with dedicated experience defending accounting firms and individual auditors—including former PCAOB enforcement leadership on our team—in PCAOB and SEC investigations, disciplinary proceedings, and state board of accountancy matters, having represented firms and professionals based in the United States, Canada, China, India, Mexico, and Peru.
Cross-Border and International Dispute Resolution
Reflecting Whiteford's growing international practice, our securities and financial services litigators bring experience in cross-border and multi-jurisdictional disputes and arbitrations, including matters seated before the ICC, LCIA, ICSID, and other international institutions, governed by U.S., European, and Middle Eastern law.
