K&L Gates
Leslie Hakala is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. She focuses her practice on government enforcement, internal investigations, and white collar defense. Before joining K&L Gates, she was Senior Counsel with the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Los Angeles Regional Office. She was responsible for planning and conducting strategic investigations (often with international components) into alleged violations of a wide range of federal laws; recommending potential enforcement actions; negotiating settlements; and litigating matters, including pleadings, discovery, and evidentiary hearings. She has extensive experience working on high-profile matters with international, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and regulators, self-regulatory organizations, financial institutions, private equity funds, and both public and private companies.