Managing SEC Matters with Parallel or Joint DOJ Criminal Proceedings

Jason Yonan is Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Section at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. In that position, Mr. Yonan supervises six Assistant United States Attorneys who focus on securities, commodities, and other investment frauds. Before becoming Section Chief, Mr. Yonan served as a Deputy Chief in the United States Attorney’s Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Section. Prior to becoming an Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Yonan worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Chicago as a staff attorney and senior attorney in the Division of Enforcement. Before his time at the SEC, Mr. Yonan clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Joan H. Lefkow. Mr. Yonan received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law.

Steven S. Scholes is a member the Firm’s management committee and the global head of McDermott’s Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses on SEC investigations, shareholder litigation, including class and derivative actions, and internal investigations. Steve is an experienced trial lawyer, and he has tried civil, criminal and administrative cases in federal and state courts. He regularly represents clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission, state securities regulators and self-regulatory organizations, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and stock, options and futures exchanges. He has served as the global operations partner for the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group and the partner-in-charge of both the Chicago Trial Department and the Firm’s SEC Defense Group.
Steve has substantial experience in securities class and derivative actions, including cases alleging accounting irregularities, illegal trading and breaches of fiduciary duty. He regularly represents public companies and their officers and directors in merger and acquisition litigation, including class and derivative actions, across the country. He has significant experience in conducting internal investigations in numerous industries, including the real estate investment trust, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics and higher education industries, among others. He has also represented audit firms and corporate officers and directors in internal investigations.
A former attorney in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Steve has been appointed by three different federal judges in Chicago to serve as receiver in SEC civil enforcement proceedings. In this role, he conducted fraud investigations, prosecuted fraudulent conveyance claims, enforced judgments, marshaled and liquidated assets, and developed and implemented plans of distribution. Stemming from his work as a receiver, Steve has extensive experience in prosecuting and in defending a wide variety of fraudulent conveyance claims.
Steve frequently speaks on securities litigation and enforcement topics. He has appeared numerous times in the press and has authored various materials concerning the federal securities laws.

Alec Koch specializes in representing public companies, financial institutions, and individuals in securities enforcement investigations. Alec also regularly conducts internal investigations on behalf of board committees and companies, advises clients on regulatory compliance and corporate governance issues, and is a member of our firm's Financial Services leadership team. A partner in our Special Matters and Government Investigations practice and a former Assistant Director in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement, Alec represents clients before the SEC, the Department of Justice, and other regulatory authorities. He has been ranked by Chambers USA, which wrote that Alec has "broad market approval for his enforcement-side practice" and was described by sources as "an extraordinary lawyer."
From 2002 to 2016, Alec was a member of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, where he supervised investigations of all types, including matters involving: regulated entities such as broker-dealers, credit rating agencies, and investment advisers; public company accounting and disclosure; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; insider trading; and securities offerings. Throughout his time at the SEC, Alec had significant responsibility for the SEC’s obligations under the landmark Global Research Analyst Settlement. He also served as a member of the Division of Enforcement’s Broker-Dealer Task Force, as the co-chair of the Division of Enforcement’s Priorities and Resources Subcommittee, and as a liaison between the Division of Enforcement and the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings.
Since 2017, Alec has served on the board of directors of the Ethics Research Center, an arm of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative, a non-profit organization that works to assist public companies and other institutions with building strong ethics and compliance cultures and programs.
Prior to joining the SEC, Alec was an associate at King & Spalding from 1997-2002. He rejoined the firm in 2016.

Known as a “powerhouse lawyer” in securities enforcement defense, Kit Addleman has built her nationwide practice by advising public companies, officers and directors, investment advisors, private funds and broker-dealers concerning securities investigations. She has successfully defended clients in civil and criminal investigations and litigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, advised clients on compliance with securities regulations and conducted internal investigations of suspected securities violations. Kit’s experience serving in four different regional offices over her 20 years in senior management at the SEC allows her to deftly advise clients at Haynes Boone, where she serves as co-chair of the Litigation Practice Group, chair of the firm's SEC Enforcement Practice Group and is a prominent member of the Government Enforcement and Investment Management Practice Groups.
Many of Kit’s biggest successes have involved defending allegations of accounting and financial fraud, insider trading, private funds and investment advisor fraud, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. Clients note that Kit is “rare in her securities specialty and one of the top enforcement lawyers in that area,” that her “SEC experience is incredibly valuable," and "bringing her in gives us an edge on very complex regulatory issues and the practical business implications," Chambers USA 2020 (Chambers and Partners). Every year since 2016, Kit has been the only lawyer in Texas ranked for Securities: Regulation: Enforcement (Nationwide) by Chambers USA.
As director of the Atlanta Regional Office of the SEC, Kit led the enforcement, examination, and bankruptcy programs in five Southeastern states, which included directing the enforcement priorities and resolutions of investigations and litigation. She served the SEC in the Atlanta, Fort Worth, Denver, and Philadelphia offices and headed the enforcement program in the SEC's Fort Worth and Atlanta offices before being named the regional director in Atlanta in 2007. A sought-after authority for her knowledge of the SEC's enforcement and examination programs, Kit frequently speaks at national, international, and regional conferences. She has authored and contributed to numerous articles, white papers, and alerts on the subject. Kit serves her colleagues and community with the same zeal she offers her clients. She started the firm’s Women’s Initiative and served six years as the head of the Women's Leadership Academy, a training program for senior associates. Kit also serves as chair of the board with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. In 2016, the Dallas Business Journal profiled Kit about her efforts at the Girl Scouts to develop a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics training program. The National Association of Corporate Directors also named her an “Outstanding Director” for her work on behalf of the Girl Scouts. And in 2021, Kit was recognized as a “Women of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, which celebrates women leaders who serve the community. She is co-chair of the ABA subsection on Officer and Director liability defense. Additionally, she co-founded the local chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association to facilitate business growth and networking for women lawyers defending government actions and investigations. Kit also is a past board member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, both organizations which support financial literacy and money management, investor protection and securities compliance.