Ford Ladd, SEC Law Firm

Ford C. Ladd is a private securities attorney and has Chaired Securities Law Committees with the D.C. Bar who has advocated and educated Congress and the SEC on the laws and regulations that govern our capital markets. He worked with Congress on provisions that improved Title IV of the JOBS Act, submitted comments to the SEC that were adopted in rulemaking, including exemption from the 12(g) Trigger and Preemption, and has Chaired D.C. Bar Seminars with Members of Congress and the SEC Staff who drafted the Proposing and Final SEC Releases for the Regulation A and D Amendments. Mr. Ladd’s Firm filed an Amicus Curiae Brief on behalf of the National Small Business Association supporting the SEC Regulation A Amendments in recent actions brought by States to void SEC rules that preempt of Regulation A, Tier 2 Offerings from the burden of State registration. (See, Monica J. Lindeen, Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance v. U.S. Securities Commission, No. 15-1149, consolidated with William Galvin, Secretary of Massachusetts v. U.S. Securities Commission, No. 15-1150 (D.C. Cir. May 22, 2015)). Mr. Ladd holds a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, MBA with focus in accounting, finance and portfolio theory, and a JD. He is a Member of the Virginia and D.C. Bars, serves clients nationwide in areas of securities regulation, enforcement and litigation, and works with other speakers present today on groups that work with Congress on matters concerning the laws and regulations that govern our markets.

Marlon Paz, Locke Lord LLP

Marlon Paz, Partner, Locke Lord LLP, is an expert on a wide range of complex securities issues, in the regulatory and litigation context, internal investigations and compliance. He is a partner at Locke Lord LLP and on the faculty of Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches courses on the U.S. regulation of financial institutions, the securities markets, and international business litigation. Mr. Paz is a Certified Fraud Examiner and frequent speaker and consultant on issues related to the regulation of broker-dealers and investment advisers.

Mr. Paz has served in senior positions with the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he played a key role in developing the SEC’s positions on many important regulatory and enforcement matters. Mr. Paz was part of the team dealing with the financial crisis and has worked on a number of regulatory measures, including fraud, anti-manipulation, credit ratings agency reform, the respective fiduciary duties of broker-dealers and investment advisers, and the regulation of short sales, hedge funds, and enhancements to capital and financial controls over broker-dealers. During his tenure at the SEC, Mr. Paz worked on over 100 enforcement matters involving complex securities issues.

Mr. Paz earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and holds an LL.M from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.A. from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, and a B.A. in philosophy from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.

Maggie Chou, OTC Markets Group

Maggie Chou is Assistant Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group Inc.  In this role, she manages new product developments and broker-dealer relationships for financial institutions and provides guidance to growth, venture stage companies looking to access the capital markets. Maggie started her career at OTC Markets in 2008 as an analyst covering depository receipts and international issuers trading off-exchange. Prior to her current role, Maggie was a compensation analyst at LivingSocial and an associate at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in its Card Services division. Maggie is a graduate of Cornell University, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations and minors in Economics and French Studies.

Allen Shayanfekr, Sharestates

Allen Shayanfekr, Esq. is the CEO and Founder of Sharestates. Allen is currently admitted to practice law in NY and CT. His legal expertise in securities law is paramount to Sharestates’ ability to promote and produce public and private offerings in a highly regulated space. Allen interacts regularly with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in addition to spearheading daily operations at Sharestates. Prior to launching Sharestates, Allen joined the Atlantis Organization as their National Title Producer and Account Executive, holding approximately 28 Producer’s licenses across the Country. Allen received his J.D. Magna Cum Laude from Touro Law Center where he graduated in the top 6% of his class and his B.A. in Political Science from New York University.

Bjorn Hall, Fundrise

Bjorn is the General Counsel of Fundrise. Prior to joining Fundrise, Bjorn spent over 8 years practicing securities and general corporate law, primarily at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Venable LLP in Washington, DC, with short stopovers at the Securities and Exchange Commission and a Russian steel corporation. Bjorn received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Dakota, and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Brett Johnson, OneMedMarket

Brett Johnson is the Founder and CEO of OneMedMarket, a New York-based research and media company focused on finding the most promising investment opportunities in emerging growth companies in healthcare and life sciences globally. Brett is the founder of the OneMedForum growth company investment conferences held in San Francisco and New York, the 14th of which will be held January 2016. He is now developing OneMedMarket, to foster the development of a secondary marketplace for trading shares of privately held healthcare and life science companies. His background as an entrepreneur includes founding the Minnesota Collaborative, and was founder and editor of Minnesota Ventures magazine and of Law & Politics magazine, now a Thomson Reuters publication called SuperLawyers. Brett also founded Cornerdrugstore.com, an online network of 2,000 local drugstores throughout the U.S., as well as the Environmental Initiative, which has become a model for other regional non-profit environmental initiatives.  He received his degree in economics from Harvard University.

Brian Korn, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Brian S. Korn is a partner in the Capital Markets practice group and is resident in the New York office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. His practice focuses on corporate finance transactions, including initial public offerings (IPOs), early-stage and start up venture financings, and mature corporate and high-yield debt finance. He also advises clients on SEC compliance, broker-dealer compliance and corporate swap transactions.

Prior to joining Manatt, Mr. Korn co-led the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending practice at a major international law firm. Mr. Korn has also previously served as head of Equity Capital Markets and Syndicate Compliance at Barclays Capital and as senior vice president and assistant general counsel at Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. He has extensive experience representing issuers and underwriters in investment banking and capital markets transactions, including transactions involving equity, debt, hybrid/convertible and preferred securities, derivatives and foreign exchange. He has executed several IPOs and other equity value monetization transactions, such as spin-offs, split-offs and carveout transactions. He also has extensive experience in sponsor-leveraged buyouts and bank/bond acquisition financing.

Charles Crain, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

Charles Crain is the Senior Manager of Tax & Financial Services Policy at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations in all 50 states.

As the primary staffer for financial services issues on BIO’s Emerging Companies Section policy team, Charles’s portfolio includes capital markets, securities, accounting, and tax policies that impact BIO’s member companies. His particular areas of focus include policy development and advocacy for the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, including the implementation thereof, legislation to enhance capital markets access for emerging companies, market structure reform, decimalization and tick size, and small company auditing standards. He has also worked on issues related to the R&D tax credit and the tax treatment of net operating losses (NOLs). Charles serves as BIO’s representative to the Equity Capital Formation Task Force and the SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation.

Prior to joining BIO, Charles worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman Paul Hodes and Senator Debbie Stabenow. Charles holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from Mercer University and a Master’s in legislative affairs from The George Washington University.

Cromwell Coulson, OTC Markets Group

R. Cromwell Coulson is President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of OTC Markets Group, Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), which operates financial marketplaces for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Over the past two decades, Cromwell has transformed this previously opaque and inefficient phone-based marked into fully modern, electronic and transparent financial marketplaces. Today, OTC Markets Group operates three marketplaces that organize securities based on the quality and quantity of disclosure they provide to investors – OTCQX, The Best Marketplace for established, investor-focused U.S. and international companies; OTCQB, The Venture Marketplace for entrepreneurial and development stage companies; and OTC Pink, The Open Marketplace for brokers to trade all types of securities. Cromwell is a strong advocate of improving access to capital for small companies and trading transparency. He has testified before Congress and spoken on these and other issues at numerous industry conferences. He also supports diverse choice and competition among trading venues that leverage the power of networks to efficiently connect consumers and suppliers of liquidity.

Christopher Tyrrell, Offerboard

Chris Tyrrell is the founder and CEO of Offerboard, a private placement platform for emerging growth companies seeking $1-25 million in equity capital from Accredited Investors. OfferBoard combines new fundraising techniques enabled by Title II of the US JOBS Act with traditional institutional private placement processes. Chris has more than 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship, financial law, technology and capital markets, having managed and founded two private technology companies and been involved in over $20 billion of financing transactions. As an attorney, he specialized in asset-based finance at the Wall Street law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Before joining OfferBoard, Chris managed a multimillion dollar family office. Chris is also chairman of CFIRA, the leading advocacy organization for small securities innovators in the U.S.

David Burton, The Heritage Foundation

David R. Burton is the Senior Fellow in Economic Policy at the Heritage Foundation, where he focuses on tax matters, securities law, entitlements and regulatory and administrative law issues. Burton was general counsel at the National Small Business Association for two years before joining Heritage’s Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies in 2013. He previously was chief financial officer and general counsel of the start-up Alliance for Retirement Prosperity, a conservative alternative to AARP. For 15 years, Burton was a partner in the Argus Group, a Virginia-based law, public policy and government relations firm. His career in financial and tax matters also includes the posts of vice president for finance and general counsel of New England Machinery, a multinational manufacturer of packaging equipment and testing instruments, and manager of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Tax Policy Center.

David Feldman, Duane Morris

David N. Feldman is a partner at Duane Morris. He concentrates his practice on corporate and securities law and mergers and acquisitions, as well as general representation of public and private companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and private equity and venture capital firms. Mr. Feldman also advises small businesses with regard to alternatives to traditional financing through initial public offerings. His popular blog at DavidFeldmanBlog.com, focusing on entrepreneurship and the regulatory environment, has been recognized by LexisNexis as a Top 25 corporate law blog, and his videos appear on his YouTube channel, The Entrepreneur’s Advocate. Mr. Feldman is a 1985 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was managing editor of the student newspaper, the Penn Law Forum, and a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as chair of the board of Wharton’s global alumni association.

David Weild, Weild & Co.

David is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Weild & Co.  The studies that he and Ed Kim co-authored documented the long-term decline in equity capital formation in the United States and provided the core arguments that gave rise to the JOBS Act and many of the specific provisions contained in the JOBS Act.  For these reasons, he has been called “The father of the JOBS Act.”  David has also called for a “JOBS Act 2” or “JOBS Act Part 2” – language increasingly heard on Capitol Hill.  Weild and Kim’s written work was cited by a broad range of legislators, regulators, academics, the IPO Task Force and the White House Jobs Council leading up to the JOBS Act. David has testified in Congress (most recently in June 2013) and at the SEC (most recently at the Roundtable on Decimalization) on these and other market issues and attended the signing of the JOBS Act by President Obama in the Rose Garden on April 5, 2012. David was also recently asked to author a study for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which was entitled, “Making Stock Markets Work to Support Economic Growth” and presented in April 2013 in draft form to the 35 member nations of the OECD, IOSCO and the European Commission.

DJ Paul, CFIRA

D.J. Paul is the founder of DJP&Co., a financial services consulting firm specializing in investment crowdfunding regulation, implementation and business development. He has served as a consultant to numerous industry leaders in the technology, finance, real estate and entertainment sectors.  D.J. is nationally recognized for his expertise in investment crowdfunding regulatory issues and instruments. A founding member and co-chair of Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA), D.J. testified before Congress in January 2014 regarding securities issues and the JOBS Act, and was named to the Securities & Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies in October 2014. As a member of this committee, he advocates for increasing private companies’ access to capital. A national thought-leader on the investment crowdfund movement, D.J. has helped to shape key JOBS Act provisions. In April of 2012, he coordinated the first post-JOBS Act meeting between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and investment crowdfunding stakeholders. This milestone meeting catalyzed and launched an ongoing collaboration that continues to this day between the SEC, congressional representatives, Wall Street and Main Street business leaders who are working together to shape regulatory oversight and implementation of JOBS Act provisions. His financial services career includes prior management and sales positions at Banque Paribas and Cowen & Company. He is frequently asked to publish and speak before national audiences on topics related to regulatory compliance and sustainable policies and practices related to crowdfund securities. Prior to his involvement in the crowdfunding industry, D.J. was an award-winning film and television producer for more than 15 years. He earned his BA in Philosophy from Brown University, is a Certified Crisis Counselor and a Wilderness First Responder. He lives in Los Angeles and New York City.

George Kostolampros, Dentons

George Kostolampros represents a wide array of clients, including public companies and their officers, directors, and employees and financial industry professionals in investigations and litigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, Financial Industry Regulation Authority, and other federal and state law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Mr. Kostolampros also advises clients with respect to corporate governance, internal controls and compliance programs. His compliance-related work has involved counseling clients on various aspects of the securities laws and drafting policies and procedures, including codes of conduct, insider trading, anti-corruption and FCPA, and other policies. Mr. Kostolampros has also counseled broker-dealers and investment advisers as to regulatory and compliance-related issues. Mr. Kostolampros also conducts internal investigations for clients.

In addition, Mr. Kostolampros has significant experience litigating civil matters involving the securities laws and other business disputes, including class action litigation. Mr. Kostolampros has represented clients in litigation involving shareholder disputes, False Claims Act claims, breach of contract and other business disputes.

Ele Klein, Schulte Roth & Zabel

Eleazer (“Ele”) Klein, a partner in the New York office, practices in the areas of securities law, mergers & acquisitions, and regulatory compliance. Ele is best known for his expertise since the early 1990s in the development and implementation of alternative investment structures for private equity investments and, specifically, the structuring and negotiating of private investments in public equity, or PIPEs, and related products including Registered Direct offerings, Convertible 144A offerings, Reverse Mergers, Equity Lines and SPACs. Ele works on numerous PIPE or PIPE market-related transactions every year for some of the largest private investment groups and investment banks in the United States and abroad. In addition, Ele advises clients on initial public offerings and secondary offerings, venture capital financing, indenture defaults and interpretation, and activist investing, as well as counseling clients in the regulatory areas of short-selling, Sections 13 and 16, Rule 144, insider trading and Regulation M/Rule 105.

Jacob Frenkel, Shulman Rogers

Clients hire Jacob because his aggressive, creative and proactive strategies often put the other side on its heels, and because he gets successful results in investigations and litigation.  Jacob has secured superior results for his securities enforcement, white-collar criminal defense, FCPA and internal and government investigations clients.  Jacob’s clients view him as a trusted advisor who understands the needs of their business. A former Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, US federal criminal prosecutor of corruption and financial crimes and New Orleans Assistant District Attorney, Jacob has practiced in the private sector for 15 years.  He has obtained favorable results for individuals, including auditors and attorneys, and for corporations and their officers, directors and other senior officials in federal and state securities, financial crimes, FCPA, export, public corruption, and internal and government investigations.  Jacob conducts internal investigations for public and non-public companies. He successfully defends parties in white collar criminal investigations by federal and state authorities, and investigations by securities regulators, stock exchanges and capital markets self-regulatory organizations.  His clients consistently cite his ability to take challenging facts, advocate effectively and secure very favorable outcomes – cost effectively.

Jacob is retained as an expert witness in high stakes litigation.  He frequently appears in national and local print and broadcast media commenting on white collar, securities and governance issues.  His clients find his media experience of particular value in managing the public policy and public relations aspects of their legal matters.

Jim Raper, Wealthforge

As Director of Compliance at WealthForge, Jim relies on his expert knowledge about the regulatory environment to help guide both WealthForge and its clients through the complexities of raising capital online. As former President and COO of an IT consultancy and most recently as an investment banker, Jim has developed a refined understanding of the operational and financial attributes of successful companies. During his 30 years of experience, Jim has worked at a variety of companies ranging from a boutique business brokerage to a Fortune 1000 corporation. Jim holds two Virginia Tech undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Finance and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Jon Weiner, Katten Muchin Rosenman

Jonathan Weiner concentrates his practice in securities, transactional and general corporate matters. He has represented investors and issuers in public and private financings (including private investments in public equity), tender offers, recapitalizations and going-private transactions, as well as targets and acquirers in mergers and acquisitions. He also advises clients on a day-to-day basis regarding corporate governance, securities law compliance, disclosure and other general corporate matters. Jonathan has counseled a wide array of businesses, ranging from start-ups to midsize and large privately held and public companies, in the financial services, heavy equipment, apparel, publishing and technology industries, among others.

Lou Bevilacqua, Digital Offering & Bevilacqua PLLC

Lou Bevilacqua is the founding member of Bevilacqua PLLC, a boutique transactional corporate and securities law firm. He is also co-founder, President and General Counsel of Digital Offering LLC, a merchant bank.  Previously, Mr. Bevilacqua was a partner in the Corporate and Securities Group at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and held that position since October 2008. Prior to joining Pillsbury, Mr. Bevilacqua was a partner in the Business and Finance group of Thelen LLP and had been at that firm since January 2003. Before joining Thelen, Mr. Bevilacqua practiced at other international and regional law firms as a corporate and securities transactional lawyer. Mr Bevilacqua counseled companies of every size ranging from entrepreneurs with just an idea to established companies whose securities trade on the NYSE or NASDAQ. He has broad experience representing issuers in public offerings and private placements of securities, Exchange Act compliance, angel and venture capital financings, and other areas of equity and debt financing. Mr. Bevilacqua also advised his clients on mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations, including “roll up” transactions. Mr Bevilacqua has several years of experience working with microcap public companies whose securities are quoted on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, and he understands the special needs of these companies. He also represented companies with international operations, including companies based in the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, Republic of China, Latin America, Europe and Australia. Mr. Bevilacqua graduated Cum Laude from Fordham University and obtained a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law where was a member of the Order of Coif. Mr Bevilacqua is Chambers ranked in Capital Markets (International Firms) (Experts Based Abroad) and USA Capital Markets: Debt & Equity (Foreign Experts).

Mark Elenowitz, BANQ

Mark Elenowitz, is the CEO and Founder of BANQ, a newly launched division of TriPoint Global Equities, LLC. BANQ, is an electronic investment banking platform that will streamline the matching of investors with quality growth companies and alternative investment opportunities. BANQ takes the entire public and private offering process digital and online, providing access to U.S. opportunities and offerings in the U.S. markets. BANQ widely markets its offerings utilizing the new general solicitation and advertising rules promulgated by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, in response to the passage of the JOBS Act of 2012. Mr. Elenowitz is responsible for the overall corporate development of TriPoint and BANQ, advising clients on structuring, financings and acquisitions. Mr. Elenowitz is also Managing Director of TriPoint Capital Advisors, LLC, a merchant banking and financial consulting affiliate of TriPoint Global Equities.

Mark Roderick, Flaster Greenberg

Markley S. Roderick concentrates his practice on the representation of entrepreneurs and their businesses. He represents companies across a wide range of industries, including technology, real estate, and healthcare. Expanding on his in-depth knowledge of capital raising and securities law, Mr. Roderick is spearheading Flaster Greenberg’s Crowdfunding Practice. He also is a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, Business and Corporate, Taxation and Healthcare Groups. Mr. Roderick has more than 25 years of experience representing individuals and businesses in a wide variety of transactions.

Mr. Roderick writes and lectures frequently for professional groups. Recent lectures have covered raising money from investors, franchising laws, and business contracts. He also maintains a Crowdfunding blog, which contains news, updates and links to important information pertaining to the JOBS Act and how Crowdfunding may affect your business. Mr. Roderick also developed and moderates a seminar series for entrepreneurs co-sponsored by the Rutgers-Camden Business Incubator, the Burlington County College High Technology Small Business Incubator, and the Rutgers-Camden Small Business Development Center. In this series, panelists guide the entrepreneur through key legal aspects of business development and growth.

Mark Wood, Katten Muchin Rosenman

Mark D. Wood is head of Katten’s Securities practice and concentrates in corporate and securities law. Mark represents public companies, issuers and investment banks in initial public offerings (IPOs) and other public offerings, private investment in public equity (PIPE) transactions, debt securities and other securities matters. Mark also represents clients in complex corporate transactions, including tender offers, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, going private transaction, private equity investments, joint ventures and strategic alliances. He is a leading practitioner in representing investors, public companies and placement agencies in PIPE transactions. In addition, he also counsels public companies on securities law compliance, disclosures, corporate governance and compensation-related issues. Many of his clients are middle market and upper middle market companies in the technology, oil and gas, manufacturing, health care and commercial banking industries.

Ron Miller, StartEngine

Ronald D. Miller is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur having visualized, founded built and sold five companies through management buyouts, private equity firms, private investors and public markets. Ron’s success has been publicly recognized as a four time Inc. 500/5000 Award recipient and as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award Finalist. As a Venture Partner, Ron brings his deep expertise as a leader and operator at many companies which he has taken to exit.  He is especially passionate about cause-based entrepreneurship and holds the trademark for “Doing Well by Doing Good.”

Sara Hanks, Crowdcheck

Sara Hanks, co-founder and CEO of CrowdCheck, is an attorney with over 30 years of experience in the corporate and securities field. CrowdCheck provides due diligence and compliance services for online alternative securities offerings. Its services help entrepreneurs and project sponsors through the disclosure and due diligence process, give investors the information they need to make an informed investment decision and avoid fraud and help intermediaries avoid liability. Sara’s prior position was General Counsel of the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel, the overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Prior to that, Sara spent many years as a partner of Clifford Chance, one of the world’s largest law firms. While at Clifford Chance, she advised on capital markets transactions and corporate matters for companies throughout the world. Sara began her career with the London law firm Norton Rose. She later joined the Securities and Exchange Commission and as Chief of the Office of International Corporate Finance led the team drafting regulations that put into place a new generation of rules governing the capital-raising process.

Scott Purcell, FundAmerica

In 2011 Scott founded FundAmerica, provides critical back office services for portals and issuers who are engaging in technology-driven fundraising by selling equity and debt securities to investors pursuant to 506(b), 506(c) (aka Title II of the JOBS Act) – and, once rules are approved, 4(a)(6) (aka Title III of the JOBS Act) offerings. He is an active Board member of the Crowdfunding Intermediary Regulatory Association (CFIRA) and the author of the book “The Definitive Guide to Equity and Debt Crowdfunding” as well as the “Industry Best Practices for Funding Portals”.

Spencer Feldman, Olshan Frome & Wolosky

Spencer G. Feldman is a partner specializing in corporate and securities law at Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP in New York.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of initial public offerings, venture capital and other issuances of securities in financing transactions, with an emphasis on representing computer software, digital advertising and other technology companies.  Mr. Feldman acts as counsel to a number of emerging growth companies and regularly participates in counseling the firm’s small-cap technology clients in connection with raising capital.  

Mr. Feldman has been named to the New York Super Lawyers list in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 for his securities and capital markets expertise.  He is currently serving as a member on the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and is also a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Business Law Section.  Mr. Feldman has authored more than 30 articles on securities and corporate law issues relevant to smaller reporting companies, and has frequently lectured on legal developments in small-cap finance.  Mr. Feldman has previously served as the Moderator of the Smaller Reporting Companies breakout group at the SEC Government – Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation.   

Mr. Feldman received his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, where he was an editor of the Buffalo Law Review and received the Laidlaw Award for excellence in business law, and his B.A. degree, cum laude in economics, from Brandeis University.  Mr. Feldman is admitted to practice in New York.

Tom Sporkin, BuckleySandler

As a former senior SEC enforcement official, Tom Sporkin brings unique experience and insights to the individuals and businesses he represents in matters before the SEC, FDIC, CFPB, FINRA, CFTC, FinCEN, and other financial regulators. Mr. Sporkin has broad subject matter expertise across all SEC program areas and continues to monitor key developments at the SEC and other bank and financial regulatory agencies. His practice focuses on compliance counseling, internal investigation, private litigation, and enforcement defense.

Mr. Sporkin has particular experience with whistleblower matters, having been one of the leaders in launching the SEC’s Whistleblower Office and writing the whistleblower rules called for by Dodd-Frank Act. Drawing from his experience and insights, he is often called upon to advise financial institutions and public companies on sensitive whistleblower issues.

Before joining BuckleySandler, Mr. Sporkin spent 20 years with the SEC’s Enforcement Division, most recently as Chief of the Office of Market Intelligence where he oversaw a multidisciplinary staff of more than 50 senior enforcement attorneys, accountants, market surveillance specialists, and analysts tasked with identifying and investigating conduct that could give rise to violations of the federal securities laws. Prior to running OMI, Mr. Sporkin co-managed a staff of 20 enforcement lawyers overseeing investigations into the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), financial fraud, insider trading, and manipulative trading. In 2009 and 2010, Mr. Sporkin was selected to be one of the leaders of two cutting-edge initiatives: the launch of the SEC’s Whistleblower Office and the launch of the Consolidated Audit Trail rule writing effort. While at SEC, Mr. Sporkin was involved in numerous investigations resulting in the SEC charging individuals and entities with stock fraud, insider trading, bank secrecy act violations, and FCPA violations.