BuckleySandler to Expand Criminal & Civil Enforcement Practice With Addition of Thomas A. Sporkin, Chief of the Office of Market Intelligence at the SEC

WASHINGTON, DC and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 31, 2012) - BuckleySandler LLP, a nationally recognized financial services and criminal and civil enforcement defense law firm with offices in Washington, Los Angeles and New York, announced today that Thomas A. Sporkin, Chief of the Office of Market Intelligence (OMI) at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will join the firm, effective June 18. Sporkin will join as a partner in the Washington, DC office.

Sporkin spent 20 years at the SEC's Division of Enforcement and established and led for the past two and a half years the Division's Office of Market Intelligence, a 50 person unit created in the aftermath of the Madoff fraud to detect ongoing unlawful conduct spanning across all SEC program areas. Under his leadership, OMI attorneys, accountants and market surveillance specialists performed analysis and conducted investigations on intelligence collected from a variety of internal and external sources, including the SEC's new Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Office. By January 2012, OMI's partnership with the Enforcement Division's specialized units, regional offices and home office associate director groups was responsible for the origination of over half of all SEC investigations. Prior to serving as Chief of OMI, Sporkin spent ten years co-managing a staff of 20 Enforcement attorneys who conducted investigations into all SEC program areas, including improper FCPA payments, financial fraud, market manipulations and insider trading.

"With the addition of Tom, we will be even better able to assist our clients in navigating an increasingly challenging enforcement and regulatory environment. He brings significant expertise, particularly with respect to federal civil and criminal enforcement and securities investigations, the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, Dodd-Frank and other whistleblower qui tam actions," explained BuckleySandler Chairman and Executive Partner, Andrew L. Sandler. "Our clients will have the benefit of access to the invaluable insights Tom has to offer and his arrival greatly strengthens our robust Criminal & Civil Enforcement practice."

BuckleySandler's criminal and civil enforcement defense practice currently represents leading financial services companies and other major corporations, as well as their officers and directors, in a variety of civil and criminal state and federal enforcement matters.

"I have watched BuckleySandler build one of the strongest financial services enforcement and litigation practices in the nation over the past three years," added Sporkin. "I look forward to using my 20 years of experience as an SEC enforcement lawyer to help the firm better assist its financial services and other corporate and individual clients prepare for, address and respond to SEC enforcement and regulatory actions and to enhance their compliance programs to limit their enforcement exposure."

Sporkin received his Juris Doctor from American University's Washington College of Law, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland.

About BuckleySandler LLP: With over 150 lawyers in Washington, Los Angeles and New York, BuckleySandler provides best-in-class legal counsel to meet the challenges of its financial services industry and other corporate and individual clients across the full-range of government enforcement actions, complex and class action litigation, and transactional, regulatory, and public policy issues. The Firm represents many of the nation's leading financial services institutions. "The best at what they do in the country." (Chambers USA). Online: www.buckleysandler.com / Twitter: https://twitter.com/BuckleySandler.