NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA, February 14, 2022: Morgan Lewis continues expanding its deep bench of former government officials with the arrival of Kelly Gibson, who has held both national and regional leadership roles over her 14 years with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Kelly will join the firm as a partner and co-leader of the securities enforcement practice, resident in New York and Philadelphia. She will advise on a wide range of securities-related enforcement and compliance matters.
“Kelly’s extensive experience with the SEC will provide our clients with unique insights to the commission’s enforcement priorities and processes,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “Working with our many former SEC lawyers, Kelly will be well positioned to offer guidance on substantive matters, such as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), public company disclosures, and financial services company issues, and to help clients navigate important process issues like cooperation, admissions, and penalties.”
Kelly served as the acting deputy director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, where she was second-in-command of more than 1,400 staff who investigate and litigate across a broad spectrum of nationwide securities matters, including issuer disclosure and accounting abuses; foreign bribery; investment advisory and broker-dealer violations; securities offerings; market manipulation; insider trading; and crypto- and cyber-related misconduct.
During her time as acting deputy director, Kelly also was tapped to lead the SEC’s new nationwide Climate and ESG Task Force, where she led task force members from across SEC headquarters, regional offices, and specialized units to develop initiatives to proactively identify potential ESG-related misconduct. In this role she also served as a resource for, and coordinated enforcement ESG efforts with, other divisions and offices. While she continued as the task force leader, Kelly returned to serve as the director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office, where she led the enforcement of federal securities laws nationwide and the examination oversight of nearly 1,200 investment advisers with more than $13.5 trillion in assets under management, over 150 investment fund complexes, and more than 290 broker-dealers with over 14,275 branch offices.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kelly to our expansive securities enforcement team, where her robust investigative and leadership skills, along with her prosecutorial experience and knowledge of the SEC’s enforcement focus will benefit clients navigating the SEC’s ever-evolving regulatory framework,” said J. Gordon Cooney, Jr., who leads Morgan Lewis’s global litigation practice.
At Morgan Lewis, Kelly will reunite with other SEC alums who recently joined the firm, including Jeffrey Boujoukos, the former director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office who rejoined Morgan Lewis in 2020. More recently, Erin Martin joined in Washington, DC, after serving as legal branch chief in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.
*Kelly is admitted in PA & NJ only; practice supervised by NY Bar members.