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Jimmy Fokas

Jimmy Fokas practices in the areas of securities litigation and regulatory enforcement and white collar defense and corporate investigations.

Mr. Fokas’s practice includes representation of public and private companies and regulated entities, including their officers, directors and employees, before the SEC, U.S. Department of Justice, the New York State Attorney General’s Office and FINRA in investigations and enforcement proceedings concerning a variety of securities law issues, including insider trading, accounting and offering fraud. He also counsels broker-dealers with respect to compliance issues. Mr. Fokas has conducted internal investigations of public companies involving accounting and financial reporting issues, compliance with the Controlled Substances Act, as well as represented individuals in criminal investigations concerning tax and healthcare fraud.

Mr. Fokas is currently part of a team representing John J. Carney, the court appointed Receiver of the Michael Kenwood Group, LLC, an international investment advisor (SEC v. Illarramendi et al. 3:11 – CV – 00078 (D. Conn.)). He is responsible for supervising the investigation and recovery of assets misappropriated through purported hedge funds operated by the principals of the Michael Kenwood Group for ultimate distribution to the defrauded investors.

In addition, Mr. Fokas is currently part of the team handling the investigation and litigation arising from the firm’s appointment as counsel to the SIPC Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Mr. Fokas is responsible for several teams that have commenced avoidance litigation against certain insiders and other individuals in order to recover assets for the fund of customer property which will be distributed to the defrauded customers of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Mr. Fokas also managed a legal team in connection with the firm’s appointment as Independent Monitor of a non-prosecution agreement between the Department of Justice and Mellon Bank, N.A., which involved assessment of the bank’s global compliance and employee training programs and recommendations for enhancements to policies and procedures around data privacy, government contracting, FCPA and other compliance programs. Mr. Fokas has also served as part of a team of lawyers in connection with the firm’s appointment as Independent Examiner of a non-prosecution agreement between the Department of Justice and the Bank of New York, which focused on monitoring the bank’s anti-money laundering and suspicious activity reporting procedures.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Fokas served as senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement in the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He conducted investigations of a variety of securities law violations including allegations of accounting fraud, offering fraud and fraudulent trading practices at broker-dealers. The investigations led to enforcement actions and administrative proceedings against public companies and individuals.

Mr. Fokas has presented and authored on such topics as:

• Panelist, “The New Age of Corporate Liability—SEC Whistleblower Rules,” ABA White Collar Crime Committee, Midwest Region (May 2011)
• Panelist, “Dodd-Frank and the Future of Financial Services Regulation,” Hellenic Lawyer’s Association (May 2011)
• Insider trading: “Insider Trading and Company Counsel,” New Jersey Law Journal and Law.com
• The discovery process: “Case Study: A Day in the Life of a Regulatory and Criminal Investigation,” ALM Panel
• Amendments to Federal Rules: “Amended Rule 408: Another Arrow for the Prosecution’s Quiver?” New York Law Journal’s White Collar Criminal Supplement

Mr. Fokas is a member of the American Bar Association, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Hellenic Lawyer’s Association.