David Kornblau

Clients turn to David Kornblau, chair of the firm’s Securities Enforcement practice group, to represent them in sensitive and complex investigations, related litigation, and internal investigations.

Chambers USA has ranked him for many years as one of the nation’s leading practitioners in securities enforcement, noting that he is “particularly adept at analyzing the weakness of a case through the prism of litigation and casting his clients’ interests in the best possible light.”

Mr. Kornblau’s clients include investment banks, public companies, stock exchanges, asset management firms, senior executives, portfolio managers, and traders. As a former senior SEC Enforcement official and SEC trial lawyer, Mr. Kornblau uses his in-depth knowledge of the agency’s internal workings and personnel to help clients successfully navigate potentially damaging investigations.

And as a former senior member of a sophisticated in-house legal department, he knows the importance of handling matters cost-effectively, communicating clearly and concisely, and keeping a keen eye on the client’s key strategic objectives.

A ten-year veteran of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, he served as an SEC trial attorney and Chief Litigation Counsel during the “Enron Era” of large-scale corporate investigations and heightened enforcement activity. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in a criminal securities fraud prosecution.

Before joining Covington in 2009, Mr. Kornblau was a Managing Director and the Head of Global Regulatory Affairs at Merrill Lynch, where he oversaw the firm’s responses to all regulatory and law-enforcement investigations.

Education :

• Harvard Law School, J.D., 1986
• Princeton University, A.B., 1983

Government Service :

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• U.S. Department of Justice

Judicial Clerkship : Hon. Charles Merrill, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1986 – 1987

Bar Admissions : New York

Representative Matters :

• Negotiated a global settlement terminating five separate SEC investigations of the New York Stock Exchange. No individuals were charged, and no intentional wrongdoing was alleged.
• Achieved settlements with the SEC for two broker-dealers limited to alleged books-and-records violations.
• Persuaded the SEC to drop an intensive investigation of a public company’s revenue recognition practices.
• Defended a senior executive of a public company and a former senior portfolio manager of a large hedge fund in separate SEC insider trading investigations. Neither client was charged.
• Convinced a federal judge to narrow the scope of an SEC asset-freeze order in litigation against sixteen members of the Wyly family in the Southern District of New York.
• Represented a large regional bank in an SEC inquiry concerning its mortgage loan repurchase reserve. The SEC took no action against our client.
• Represented a major investment bank in CFTC, SEC, and CBOE inquiries arising from the “flash crash” on May 6, 2010. The SEC took no action against our client.
• Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of a financial services firm into an alleged retaliatory discharge by its chief compliance officer.

Pro Bono : Co-lead counsel for the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania in a landmark civil rights action and settlement, which achieved a state-wide overhaul of Pennsylvania’s policies and practices for prisoners with serious mental illness.