Securities Enforcement Attorney Michael Trager and Colleagues Join Arnold & Porter's Washington Office
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 18, 2005 – The international law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that securities enforcement attorney Michael D. Trager and five colleagues will join the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Mr. Trager’s practice, which is international in scope and involves many high-profile matters, encompasses the defense of public companies, broker-dealers, other regulated entities, and individuals in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, securities regulatory bodies, and Congress, as well as corporate compliance and governance counseling and internal investigations.
Mr. Trager will join as a partner and head Arnold & Porter’s securities enforcement practice. He will be joined by senior colleagues Richard L. Jacobson and Charles R. Wenner and three associates, Joshua R. Martin, Kristina M. Guidi, and Michael Hausenfleck. The group will join the Washington, D.C., office tomorrow.
“Mike is a world-class expert in securities enforcement who leads a highly respected team,” said Arnold & Porter Chairman Michael Sohn. “Combining Mike and his colleagues with the securities litigation practice Scott Schreiber now heads for us enhances our ability to serve our clients on issues of utmost importance to publicly-traded companies. It furthers Arnold & Porter’s commitment to offer our clients lawyers who are at the top of their class in every area where we practice.”
Commenting on his move, Mr. Trager said, “I’m looking forward to joining Arnold & Porter, a first-rate firm with a cutting-edge securities litigation practice. Arnold & Porter’s name is well-known for providing clients with sophisticated representation in dealing with federal regulatory agencies. I’m proud to join that team and its tradition of excellence.”
Mr. Trager joins Arnold & Porter with extensive experience in and out of government. He has been in private practice for nearly two decades, most recently serving as chair of the corporate department and head of the securities and enforcement litigation practice in the Washington, D.C., office of an international law firm. Mr. Trager has represented a wide array of clients, including public companies, broker-dealers, investment advisers, hedge funds, accounting firms, financial institutions, and individual clients. Prior to entering private practice, he served as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in Washington, where he conducted investigations and represented the government in litigation.
Author of numerous publications on SEC enforcement issues, Mr. Trager is a frequent speaker at seminars. He has served on task forces established by the American Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar to review the SEC’s selective disclosure and insider-trading rules and on the District of Columbia Bar’s Planning Group for Broker-Dealer Programs. He is also a member of the Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni. Mr. Trager received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1981. He received a J.D. in 1985 from Boston University School of Law, where he was an associate editor of the American Journal of Law and Medicine.
Mr. Trager brings two senior colleagues from his firm with him who practice in the same areas: Mr. Jacobson, a former SEC enforcement attorney, and Mr. Wenner, a former SEC corporate finance lawyer.
In addition to his 26 years of work in private practice in both California and Washington, D.C., Mr. Jacobson served for three years as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sorrento Networks, Inc., a public optical networking company. He also worked for the SEC where he was a member of the Trial Unit in the Enforcement Division and served as Special Counsel to the Chairman. A former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Mr. Jacobson also has served as President of the Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni and President of the Washington Council of Lawyers. He is a member of the American Law Institute and has written and spoken on numerous topics involving the federal securities laws.
Prior to his 27 years in private practice, Mr. Wenner served as Special Counsel to the Chairman of the SEC in Washington, D.C. During his tenure at the SEC, he also served in the Division of Corporation Finance and was on the staff of the Advisory Committee on Corporate Disclosure to the Commission. He was the recipient of several awards for outstanding achievement while at the Commission. Prior to joining the SEC staff, Mr. Wenner was a lecturer at the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is also a member of the Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni.
Arnold & Porter LLP, an international law firm of approximately 650 attorneys, has offices in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, London, and Brussels. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 25 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law, with a primary focus on litigation, transactional matters, and regulatory issues.
