WilmerHale is pleased to announce the arrival of Daniel M. Gallagher, Jr. in the firm’s Washington DC office as partner in both the Broker-Dealer Compliance and Regulation Practice Group and the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice Group. Gallagher was most recently the Deputy Director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He served as Co-Acting Director of the Division from April 2009 to January 2010. At WilmerHale, Gallagher’s practice will focus on regulatory issues and market-related enforcement matters.
"We are happy to welcome Dan back to the firm,” said Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice Group Chair Harry Weiss. “With his significant experience at the Commission Dan will further strengthen our deep bench of regulatory and enforcement lawyers.”
During his tenure in the Division of Trading and Markets, Gallagher played a critical role in the SEC’s response to the financial crisis. He worked closely with the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission on numerous matters relating to the crisis. Gallagher also played a key role in several cutting edge broker-dealer, OTC derivatives, and credit rating agency initiatives for the SEC.
Gallagher joined the SEC in January 2006, first serving as a Counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins and later as a Counsel to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. His work focused on many of the major Division of Trading and Markets matters before the Commission.
“Dan’s role at the SEC as the financial crisis hit gave him the opportunity to examine and address some of the most difficult issues in the field right now,” said Yoon-Young Lee, chair of Broker-Dealer Compliance and Regulation Practice Group, “and his experience will be a great asset to our clients.”
Before joining the SEC, Gallagher was an associate in the Securities Department of WilmerHale from 1999 to 2003. He left the firm in 2004 to become Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Fiserv Securities, and later returned to WilmerHale as a Counsel.
“Dan is an extremely talented lawyer, and we are delighted he is returning to WilmerHale” said Co-Managing Partner William Perlstein. “His extensive background and experience will be a great benefit to the firm and our clients and we look forward to working with him in this new role.”
“It has been a tremendous honor to have worked in the Division of Trading and Markets during such an historic period," said Gallagher. “I am very excited to return to WilmerHale and have the privilege of working again with such a talented group of colleagues, as we face the evolving financial terrain together.”
Gallagher received his BA from Georgetown University and his JD, magna cum laude, from the Catholic University of America, where he was a member of the law review.