On January 6, 2010, New York partner John J. Carney presented at a Securities CLE teleconference/webinar entitled, "The Wells Process in SEC Enforcement Actions." The Wells process gives parties under investigation by the SEC the chance to defend themselves prior to the filing of a formal action, with the hope of avoiding or reducing charges or to propose a settlement with the Commission. Because of the many legal pitfalls involved in this process, Carney, along with former SEC Division of Enforcement Director, Linda Thomsen and former SEC General Counsel, James Doty, provided the audience, many of whom serve as counsel representing major SEC corporations facing enforcement actions, with strategies on evaluating how to use the Wells process to settle investigations.
Carney, co-leader of the firm's national White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations group, a former Securities Fraud Chief, Assistant United States Attorney, SEC Senior Counsel and a practicing CPA, has lectured extensively on the topics of securities fraud and litigating complex accounting cases at bar conferences, accounting societies, the Justice Department's National Advocacy Center, the SEC's Chief Enforcement Attorney Conference, as well as at national training seminars conducted for agents by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.