Practice Focus

Brooksley Born is a retired partner of the firm, which she joined as an associate in 1965.  She was the head of the firm's derivatives practice and represented domestic and international clients in legislative, litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters involving derivatives transactions and financial markets.  Ms. Born also specialized in complex civil litigation and arbitration.  She served on the firm's Policy Committee and chaired its Pro Bono Committee and Associates Evaluation Committee.

From 1996 to 1999 she was chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal government agency that oversees the futures and commodity option markets and futures professionals.  While at the CFTC, Ms. Born served as a member of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions.

Ms. Born is a 1964 graduate of Stanford Law School where she was president of the Stanford Law Review and received the Outstanding Senior Award. She served as law clerk to Judge Henry W. Edgerton of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She has served on the Boards of Governors of the American Bar Association, the American Bar Foundation, and the District of Columbia Bar. At the ABA, she has chaired the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, the Consortium on Legal Services and the Public, and the Council of the Fund for Justice and Education. Ms. Born is a founder of the ABA Women's Caucus and chairs the board of the National Women's Law Center. She has taught Women and the Law at Georgetown Law Center and the Columbus School of Law of Catholic University of America.