Former Securities And Exchange Commission Counsel Joins Arnold & Porter

Washington, D.C., August 14, 2007 –  Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that Laura Badian has joined the firm’s corporate and securities practice as counsel.  Ms. Badian is a former Special Counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and subsequently worked for Kalorama Partners, LLC, a business consulting firm founded by former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt.  Ms. Badian will work on securities and transactional matters for a variety of clients, including issuers, broker-dealers, and investment advisers.  She will be based in Washington, D.C.

“Laura’s strong background at the SEC, in private practice, and in the consulting world will be helpful to many of our clients on a range of regulatory and compliance matters, particularly in the corporate governance area,” said Steven Kaplan, head of the corporate and securities practice at Arnold & Porter.  “With her broad experience and deep expertise, she also will be a valuable resource on capital markets transactions and in mergers and acquisitions, as well as for our securities enforcement practice on broker-dealer, governance, and compliance issues.”

Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Ms. Badian was a Managing Director at Kalorama Partners, LLC, which provides strategic advice to public companies, boards of directors, and financial services firms on SEC regulatory, enforcement and disclosure matters and corporate governance.  Ms. Badian previously served at the SEC as Special Counsel in the Office of Mergers and Acquisitions of the Division of Corporation Finance (1996-1999) and as an Attorney Fellow in the Division’s Office of Chief Counsel (1994-1996).  Prior to her government service, Ms. Badian was a partner in the Corporate Finance Department of a large Chicago law firm (1988-1992).

Ms. Badian has a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and an M.B.A. from the Wharton Graduate School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Arnold & Porter's corporate and securities team provides premier services to a wide variety of clients.  The firm handles complex, high-profile mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions involving multinational companies and sovereign governments, as well as vital business transactions for rising mid-market companies, start-ups, and entrepreneurs. 

Arnold & Porter LLP, an international law firm of approximately 600 attorneys, has offices in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, 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.