Fried Frank announced that Dabney O’Riordan has joined the firm as a partner in both the Litigation Department and the Asset Management Practice, based in Washington, DC. She joins from Quinn Emanuel, where she was a partner in the firm’s securities enforcement defense practice. O’Riordan was the longest-serving leader of the Asset Management Unit of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Division of Enforcement, where from 2016 through 2022 she managed attorneys and industry experts across the SEC, specializing in securities law violations by investment advisors to private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, retail accounts and other investment vehicles.

With 17 years of experience at all levels of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, and over various presidential administrations, O’Riordan’s knowledge enables her to develop creative and effective solutions for clients, leveraging her deep understanding of the SEC’s approach to opening and pursuing investigations. She advises asset managers and public companies on SEC regulatory compliance and represents clients before the SEC and in private disputes. A seasoned litigator with extensive experience in both private practice and at the SEC, O’Riordan has conducted and overseen hundreds of investigations, addressed emerging issues in the asset management industry and worked closely with SEC leaders on related rules, guidance and exam priorities.

“Dabney is a highly accomplished lawyer and we are proud to welcome her to our global Litigation Department,” added Geoffrey S. Berman, partner, global chair of Fried Frank’s Litigation Department and head of the firm’s White Collar Defense, Regulatory Enforcement and Investigations Practice. “Dabney brings unparalleled experience and valued insight into SEC investigations and exams. Her addition further strengthens our bench of respected former government employees and supports the growth of our Litigation Department in Washington, DC, and beyond.”

“Dabney’s knowledge of the SEC’s priorities and her perspective on new developments in the asset management industry will be a tremendous boon for our Asset Management Practice,” said Kenneth I. Rosh, chairman of Fried Frank and co-head of the firm’s Asset Management Practice and Private Equity Funds Group. “Her government background will help us better advise our private fund clients on regulatory compliance and best practices in addressing rules under the Advisers Act, complementing the existing efforts of our market-leading Asset Management Practice.”

With deep experience in civil litigation, alternative dispute resolution and government investigations, Fried Frank litigators across the United States and Europe resolve high-profile disputes for the world’s leading corporations, real estate developers, financial institutions and their executives. The firm’s global Litigation Department is a team of more than 100 litigators, which includes former high-ranking US prosecutors and seasoned trial and appellate lawyers, who collaborate with the firm’s corporate lawyers to achieve clients’ goals.

Led by partner Lawrence N. Barshay and Rosh in the United States and partner Kate Downey in Europe, Fried Frank’s global Asset Management Practice provides top-tier advice on all aspects of funds, managed accounts and other investment vehicles, including fund formation, negotiation of managed accounts and advisory agreements, structuring management companies and compensation arrangements, spinouts, seeding and stakes transactions, documentation of prime brokerage and other trading arrangements and advice regarding ongoing operations. The practice is consistently top-ranked by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in both the United States and United Kingdom, and has been recognized as one of Law360's Practice Groups of the Year for the past five consecutive years.

This news story was originally published on the firm’s website.