Jordan A. Thomas exclusively concentrates his practice on investigating and prosecuting securities fraud on behalf of whistleblowers and institutional clients. As Chair of the Firm's Whistleblower Representation practice, Jordan protects and advocates for whistleblowers throughout the world who have information about potential violations of the federal securities laws. He also is the Editor of SECwhistlebloweradvocate.com, a website dedicated to helping responsible organizations establish a culture of integrity and courageous whistleblowers to report possible securities violations-without personal or professional regrets.
A career public servant and seasoned trial lawyer, Mr. Thomas joined Labaton Sucharow from the Securities and Exchange Commission where he served as an Assistant Director and, previously, as an Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel in the Division of Enforcement. He had a leadership role in the development of the Commission's Whistleblower Program, including leading fact-finding visits to other federal agencies with whistleblower programs, drafting the proposed legislation and implementing rules and briefing House and Senate staffs on the proposed legislation. He is also the principal architect and first National Coordinator of the Commission's Cooperation Program, an initiative designed to facilitate and incentivize individuals and companies to self-report securities violations and participate in its investigations and related enforcement actions. In recognition of his important contributions to these national initiatives, while at the Commission, Mr. Thomas was a recipient of the Arthur Mathews Award, which recognizes "sustained demonstrated creativity in applying the federal securities laws for the benefit of investors," and, on two occasions, the Law and Policy Award.
Throughout his tenure at the Commission, Mr. Thomas was assigned to many of the Commission's highest-profile matters such as those involving Enron and Fannie Mae. He successfully investigated, litigated and supervised a wide variety of enforcement matters involving violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issuer accounting fraud and other disclosure violations, audit failures, insider trading, market manipulations, offering frauds and broker-dealer, investment adviser and investment company violations. His cases resulted in monetary relief for harmed investors in excess of $35 billion.
Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Thomas was a Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice, where he specialized in complex financial services litigation involving the FDIC and Office of Thrift Supervision. He began his legal career as a Navy Judge Advocate on active duty and continues to serve as a senior officer in the Reserve Law Program. Earlier, Mr. Thomas worked as a stockbroker.
Throughout his career, Mr. Thomas has received numerous awards and honors. At the Commission, he was the recipient of four Chairman's Awards, four Division Director's Awards and a Letter of Commendation from the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He is also a decorated military officer, who has twice been awarded the Rear Admiral Hugh H. Howell Award of Excellence-the highest award the Navy can bestow upon a reserve judge advocate.
Mr. Thomas is a sought after media commentator and frequent speaker at prominent law schools and legal conferences on securities enforcement and whistleblower issues.
Noteworthy
Former SEC Insider Jordan Thomas Creates Online Resource for Responsible Organizations and Courageous Whistleblowers to Offer Straight Talk about How to Stop Corporate Corruption
Senior SEC Attorney Joins Labaton Sucharow LLP To Launch Whistleblower Practice
Significant Number of Americans Have Knowledge of Workplace Misconduct and are Willing to Blow the Whistle, According to Labaton Sucharow LLP Survey
Partner Jordan A. Thomas Participated in a Podcast on TheCorporateCounsel.net Regarding Whistleblower Advocacy
(April 19, 2012)
Partner Jordan A. Thomas Discusses Dodd-Frank's Whistleblower Provisions and the Early Results of the Program on Bloomberg TV
(December 1, 2011)
Partner Jordan A. Thomas Quoted in the Financial Times
(December 1, 2011)
Partner Jordan A. Thomas Quoted in Corporate Counsel
(November 17, 2011)
Partner Jordan A. Thomas Quoted in the Wall Street Journal
(November 16, 2011)
Partner Jordan A. Thomas Quoted on Risk.net
(November 16, 2011)
Media Roundtable Discussion with Jordan A. Thomas and Dominic J. Auld on How U.S. Financial Reforms and Recent Whistleblower Provisions Impact Global Financial Institutions
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog: The SEC Whistleblower Program: A Game-Changer for FCPA Violations
The New York Law Journal: Limitations of Corporate Compliance
BNA Daily Labor Report: Advocacy & Counsel for the SEC Whistleblower: A Primer for Employment Lawyers
Private Equity Manager: Wistleblowers & PE
Corporate Crime Reporter: Q&A - Jordan A. Thomas Sets Up SEC Whistleblower Shop At Labaton
Law360: Point-Counterpoint: Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Rules
AmLaw Litigation Daily: Q&A with Jordan A. Thomas, Outgoing SEC Enforcement Lawyer and Labaton Sucharow's New Whistleblower Practice Chief
Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) - 2012 PIABA Annual Meeting and Securities Law Seminar
(October 2012)
Speaker
Florida NELA - September Conference
(September 2012)
Speaker
Terrapinn - The Trading Show Chicago
(June 2012)
Speaker
NELA/GA - Evening event
(May 2012)
Speaker
The National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM) - 2012 Uncommon Knowledge Conference
(May 2012)
Speaker
InvestoRegulation - SEC Regulation Outside the United States
(May 2012)
Speaker
NYU Stern School of Business - Guest Lecture on Corporate Governance
(April 2012)
Speaker
Forensic and Investigative Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association - Mid-Year Conference
(March 2012)
Keynote Speaker and Panelist
Practicing Law Institute (PLI) - Understanding Employment Law 2012
(March 2012)
Panelist
NELA/Illinois - NELA/Illinois Brown Bag CLE Luncheon
(March 2012)
Speaker
The American Bar Association - 2012 ABA National Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity Law
(March 2012)
Panelist
The Alliance of Alternative Asset Professionals (TAAAPs) - Speaker Series - A Changing Regulatory Environment
(March 2012)
Moderator / Panelist
Investment Adviser Watch - 14th Annual IA Compliance Best Practices Summit 2012
(March 2012)
Panelist
Worldwide Business Research - Trade Tech 2012
(March 2012)
Panelist
George Washington Law's Center for Law, Economics and Finance (C-LEAF), along with the Institute for Law and Economic Policy (ILEP) - Striking the Right Balance: Investor and Consumer Protection in the New Financial Marketplace
(March 2012)
Panelist
NELA/Eastern PA - NELA Night
(February 2012)
Panelist
InvestoRegulation - Third Annual Hedge Fund Regulation Symposium
(January 2012)
Speaker
Brooklyn Law School's Business Law Association - Brooklyn Law School's Business Law Association Luncheon
(November 2011)
Speaker
Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund - SEC Whistleblower Boot Camp
(November 2011)
Moderator
Thomson Reuters - The Bribery Act/FCPA Enforcement 2012 Briefing
(November 2011)
Speaker
Global Strategic Management Institute - Governance, Risk Management and Compliance Summit
(November 2011)
Panelist
Infoline - The 2011 EU & UK Practitioners Summit on Banking Regulation 2011
(October 2011)
Individual Address
The Ethics and Compliance Officer Association's (ECOA) - 19th Annual Ethics & Compliance Conference
(September 2011)
Panelist
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) - 2010 Annual Meeting
(October 2010)
Panelist
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - 24th Annual Joint Regulatory Conference
(July 2010)
Panelist
The Knowledge Congress - Executing Internal Investigations for Compliance Programs
(April 2010)
Panelist
The Boston Bar Association - Securities Fraud 2010: The "New Deal" at the SEC, Insider Trading, and a White Collar Trial
(April 2010)
Panelist