The SEC’s Enforcement Actions and Investigations: Managing Compliance Risks

Shaun Clarke tries civil and criminal cases. Recently, he negotiated the dismissal of all charges against a client who was indicted in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions case. At the same time, he served as a key member of the trial team for a major pharmaceutical distributor in the opioids multi-district litigation. Previously he obtained “Not Guilty” verdicts on behalf of one client who was charged with insider trading and another who was the BP employee charged with causing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Mr. Clarke has been selected as one of The Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation, White Collar Defense and General Criminal Defense. Described by Chambers USA as a “master in handling government investigations on behalf of a nationwide clientele,” he honed his trial skills as a San Francisco Deputy City Attorney and an Assistant United States Attorney in New Orleans. He has successfully represented individual and corporate clients in SEC and other government investigations as well as at every level of both the civil and criminal court systems.

Chelsea focuses her practice on helping businesses of all industry sectors develop meaningful privacy and security compliance programs. Chelsea provides legal and compliance advice on all aspects of information governance, privacy compliance, cyber incident response, cyber due diligence for corporate transactions, and vendor management. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), Chelsea assists clients on state, federal, and international privacy laws and regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), and Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC).
Chelsea has experience advising public company clients on cybersecurity issues. While in law school Chelsea was selected for the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Honors Intern Program and clerked for the Cyber Unit in the Division of Enforcement.
Chelsea also advises clients on eDiscovery matters. Chelsea previously served as a Judicial Extern for the US District Court for the Southern District of California where she assisted on a variety of complex eDiscovery disputes.

Eric Werner is the Associate Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fort Worth Regional Office, where he heads the agency’s enforcement activities in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas. Prior to his appointment as Associate, Mr. Werner worked at the SEC as a staff attorney conducting investigations and in the Office of Chief Counsel, and in supervisory positions as Branch Chief and Assistant Director where he was a member of the Complex Financial Instruments Unit and the Public Finance Abuse Unit. Mr. Werner has worked on matters involving virtually every aspect of the securities markets, including financial fraud, hedge funds, insider trading, market manipulation, municipal securities, offering fraud, broker-dealers, and investment advisers. Mr. Werner earned his law degree from the Washington University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Occidental College.