With the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, the legal landscape has shifted dramatically to encourage and protect employees who come forward to “blow the whistle” on fraud and related corporate wrongdoing. Not only do both statutes contain protection for employees against retaliation, but Dodd-Frank authorized the SEC to provide monetary awards of between 10% and 30% to eligible individuals who voluntarily come forward with original information that leads to an enforcement action in which over $1,000,000 in sanctions is recovered. These programs have created substantial financial incentives for potential whistleblowers and significant compliance challenges for covered employers.
Join Jason Pickholz of The Pickholz Law Offices LLC, the first lawyer ever to win an SEC whistleblower award on appeal and creator of SECWhistleblowerInfo.com, and John F. Fullerton III, member of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. and representative of financial institutions and corporate employers, as they offer their unique perspectives on the pros and cons of these whistleblower programs and the key issues faced by employees and employers in this growing area of whistleblower law.
Jason Pickholz has been representing individuals and companies in connection with white collar and securities investigations since 1995. Among his notable white collar and securities defense cases, Mr. Pickholz has represented a former U.S. Senator in connection with an investigation into a public pension fund; a public company and its CEO in an SEC investigation related to the federal multi-agency COVID-19 taskforce; a company in a CFTC case involving digital assets and binary options; a senior executive officer of a billion dollar mutual fund family in the SEC’s market timing investigations; and a leading specialist in the NYSE Floor Specialist cases. He was counsel in the first disciplinary case brought by FINRA; two cases that Crain’s referred to as among the largest stock fraud cases of the early 21st century involving New York-based companies; and the first anti-money laundering case brought by FinCen and the NYSE together against an NYSE member firm.
Since the SEC whistleblower program was created in 2010, Mr. Pickholz has also been representing SEC whistleblowers. He was the first lawyer ever to win an SEC whistleblower award for a client on appeal to the Commission. Inside Counsel magazine named this as one of the “Five milestones in the Dodd-Frank whistleblower reward program”. It is still one of only three times that the Commission has overruled an award denial by its Claims Review Staff in the ten-year history of the SEC whistleblower program.
Mr. Pickholz is a co-author of the two-volume book Securities Crimes, published by Thomson Reuters. He is also the creator of www.secwhistleblowerinformation.com, a free on-line encyclopedia for SEC whistleblowers and SEC whistleblower lawyers.
Mr. Pickholz has appeared on Fox Business News, BBC News, and Bloomberg Radio. He has been quoted by the print media numerous times, spoken on many panels and programs, and written several articles for the New York Law Journal, Securities Regulation Law Journal, Journal of Financial Crime (Cambridge University, England), Law 360, and various other publications.
Prior to starting his own law firm, Mr. Pickholz was a partner at one national law firm, and served as an Advisory Member on the Board of Directors of another national law firm. He began his career as a federal law clerk to a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.
In recognition of Mr. Pickholz’s achievements, he was elected by his peers to be a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation, an honor that is granted to just 1% of the 70,000+ lawyers in the New York State Bar Association.
JOHN F. FULLERTON III is a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment practice, in the New York office of Epstein Becker Green. He has substantial experience serving clients in the financial, health care, sports, real estate, and building service industries.
Mr. Fullerton:
Since 2004, Mr. Fullerton has been an adjunct professor of law at Pace University School of Law, where he has taught classes in labor law and advanced appellate advocacy and served for nine years as the faculty advisor to the law school's National Moot Court team. A frequent lecturer, Mr. Fullerton has authored numerous articles on labor and employment topics for various publications, including The National Law Journal, The New York Law Journal, The Labor Lawyer, Employment Law360, Real Estate Weekly, Corporate Counsel, and Dispute Resolution Journal. He has also authored the book Employment Separation Agreements Line by Line: A Detailed Look at Employment Separation Agreements and How to Change Them to Meet Your Clients' Needs, published by Thomson West in 2011. He edits and contributes to the Financial Services Employment Law Blog and serves as coeditor of the firm's Act Now Advisories.
Mr. Fullerton is a graduate of Brown University and New York University School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Moot Court Casebook and a recipient of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers' Norman Ostrow Scholarship. Following graduation, he clerked for the Hon. Allyne R. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Mr. Fullerton has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2007 to 2014) and New York Super Lawyers - Metro Edition (2007 to 2013). He is described as an "expert in labor union law" in the 2006 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business.
MEMBERSHIPS
BAR ADMISSIONS
Massachusetts
New York
COURT ADMISSIONS
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
EDUCATION
J.D., New York University School of Law, 1994
B.A., Brown University, magna cum laude, 1988
thanks
A thorough overview of whistleblower potections.
A timely topic. Well presented.
Really good session. Well structured and presented. Good examples - talking points. Effective.
Very interested in Dodd Frank banking rules. Now i know about Whistleblower also.
I really appreciated how they did not just read the slides but provided substantive information on latest cases and circuit splits.
Tough area of the law. Refer to an expert on decisions on whether to report internally or to the SEC. Good clear presentation.
Really excellent materials and presented well by both presenters!
Clear, concise and relevant. Thank you!
Very informative.
interesting
Very informative.
Very interesting.
Very informative. Good format.
Excellent presentation
Thank you.
Excellent presentation and very informative.
Excellent program. Thank you.
especially good!
The course was very comprehensive and the examples or application of the law was clear and practical.
Informative and practical
Best SOX / DF primer I have found
Program was well done by both presenters
Good instruction.
It was informative.
Very interesting area of law which I have no knowledge of.
the program was informative
Very well done!!
on-going notes very useful throughout
Cool
presenters' styles meshed well. content was well presented and useful.
While not my area of practice, and not a CLE I would have chosen outside the bundle I purchased, I enjoyed this. The speakers were interesting and I enjoyed listening to them discuss the differences between Dodd-Frank and SOX.
I really enjoyed this course.
The instructors were quite knowledgeable and I enjoyed their delivery of the content
A good team - present together well
Good primer on recent SCOTUS decision
Fascinating and informative seminar.
Excellent
Good
Nicely done!
Great program
great course. Good balance of law and practical tips. Last few slide were excellent
Good treatment of complicated subject matter.
Good review and analysis and excellent moderator support
Solid and strightforward presentation of material. Thanks.
I really enjoyed the programme. The presenters struck a nice balance in all things. THanks!