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2024 SEC INVESTOR 

ADVOCACY CLINIC SUMMIT

Friday, March 1 | 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET

SEC CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS

Chair Gary Gensler

Gary Gensler was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden to serve as Chair of the U.S. 

Securities and Exchange Commission on February 3, 2021, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 

April 14, 2021, and sworn into office on April 17, 2021. 

Before joining the SEC, Gensler was professor of the Practice of Global Economics and 

Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, co-director of MIT’s Fintech@CSAIL, 

and senior advisor to the MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative. From 2017-2019, he 

served as chair of the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission. 

Gensler was formerly chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, leading 

the Obama Administration’s reform of the $400 trillion swaps market. He also was senior advisor to U.S. Senator Paul 

Sarbanes in writing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) and was undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance and 

assistant secretary of the Treasury from 1997-2001.

In recognition for his service, he was awarded the Alexander Hamilton Award, the U.S. Treasury’s highest honor. He is a 

recipient of the 2014 Frankel Fiduciary Prize. 

Prior to his public service, Gensler worked at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner in the Mergers & Acquisition 

department, headed the firm’s Media Group, led fixed income & currency trading in Asia, and was co-head of Finance, 

responsible for the firm’s worldwide Controllers and Treasury efforts. 

A native of Baltimore, Md., Gensler earned his undergraduate degree in economics in 1978 and his MBA from The 

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1979. He has three daughters.
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Commissioner Hester M. Peirce

Hester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and 

Exchange Commission and was sworn in on January 11, 2018. 

Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of 

financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was a Senior 

Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where 

she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on 

securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. 

Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. 

Commissioner Peirce was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) and 

clerked for Judge Roger Andewelt on the Court of Federal Claims.

Commissioner Peirce earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and her JD 

from Yale Law School.

Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga

Jaime Lizárraga was sworn into office on July 18, 2022. He was nominated by President Joe 

Biden and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. 

Commissioner Lizárraga most recently served as Senior Adviser to House Speaker Nancy 

Pelosi. In that role, he oversaw issues related to financial markets, small business, housing, 

international finance, and immigration. He also served as Speaker Pelosi’s liaison to the 

Congressional Hispanic Caucus. 

Throughout his 32-year career in public service, Commissioner Lizárraga has advised 

Congressional leaders and heads of executive agencies on policy and legislative strategy. He 

previously served on the Democratic staff of the House Financial Services Committee and as 

a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Commissioner Lizárraga earned his bachelor’s degree with high honors from the University of California San Diego and 

earned a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
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SPEAKERS, MODERATORS, AND PANELISTS

(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Richard W. Berry | Executive Vice President and Director, 

Office of FINRA Dispute Resolution Services

Richard W. Berry serves as Executive Vice President and Director, FINRA Dispute 

Resolution Services. 

Prior to serving in this capacity, Mr. Berry was Senior Vice President, Dispute Resolution. 

In that role, he oversaw the four regional offices—New York, Boca Raton, Chicago and Los 

Angeles—and the New York Case Administration unit.

Mr. Berry joined FINRA, then NASD, in 1995 as head of Dispute Resolution’s Los Angeles 

satellite office. In 2001, he was named Director of Case Administration in the New York City 

office. Mr. Berry serves as Executive Champion of the FINRA Communication Coaches 

program, which provides professional communication skills coaching to FINRA staff who engage in public speaking. Mr. 

Berry earned his Certified Regulatory and Compliance ProfessionalTM designation through the FINRA Institute.

Prior to joining FINRA, he taught American law for one year in Budapest. Mr. Berry began his career practicing law in San 

Francisco. He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and UC College of the Law, San Francisco 

(formerly known as UC Hastings College of the Law). Mr. Berry is a member of the California Bar.

Richard R. Best | Director, Division of Examinations

Richard R. Best has served as the Director of the SEC’s Division of Examinations since May 

2022 following a two-month period as its Acting Director.

Mr. Best joined the SEC in 2015 as the Regional Director in the agency’s Salt Lake Regional 

Office. He became the Regional Director of the Atlanta office in 2018 and then Regional 

Director of the New York office in 2020 prior to assuming the role of leading the Division of 

Examinations nationwide.

Prior to his arrival at the SEC, Mr. Best held supervisory, litigation, and investigative positions 

at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He also spent approximately 10 years as 

a prosecutor in the Office of the Bronx County District Attorney, where he handled and supervised high-profile public 

integrity and organized crime prosecutions among other matters.

Mr. Best received a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York, College of Old Westbury, and a law degree 

from Howard University School of Law. 
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William Birdthistle | Director, Division of Investment Management

William Birdthistle is the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of 

Investment Management. In his role as Director, Mr. Birdthistle oversees the Division’s overall 

operations, core functions, and mission.

Prior to joining the SEC in 2021, Mr. Birdthistle was a professor of law at Chicago-Kent 

College of Law, where his scholarship focused on investment funds, securities regulation, and 

corporate governance.

Mr. Birdthistle received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as managing 

editor of the Harvard Law Review, his M.A. in history from the University of Chicago, and a 

B.A. in English and psychology from Duke University.

Richard E. Dominguez | Special Counsel, SEC Office of the Ombuds

Richard E. Dominguez is a Senior Counsel of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Office 

of the Investor Advocate. In this role, he is responsible for evaluating the potential effects of 

proposed SEC and SRO rules on retail investors, acting as a confidential liaison between 

retail investors and the Commission, and addressing retail investor inquiries and complaints 

about the SEC and the SROs it oversees.

Prior to joining the Office, Mr. Dominguez served in several other SEC Offices or Divisions, 

including the Division of Enforcement and the Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity. 

Before joining the SEC, he was a Trial Attorney at the New York Stock Exchange’s Division of 

Enforcement and was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, DC.

A first-generation professional, Mr. Dominguez received his law degree from the University of California College of the 

Law, San Francisco (formerly U.C. Hastings College of the Law), and his undergraduate degree from the University of 

California, Santa Cruz.

Aimee Ellis | Diversity Program Manager, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

Aimee Ellis serves as the Diversity Program Manager where she manages the nine 

Employee Affinity Groups (EAGs), the Diversity Council, DEIA training, OMWI’s systems and 

communications. Aimee joined the SEC and OMWI at the end of December 2019. In March 

2020 she helped OMWI and the EAGs transition to virtual programs. She enjoys opportunities 

to collaborate with other SEC offices and our partner financial regulatory agencies. 

Prior to the SEC, Aimee worked in various roles at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). 

At FDA Aimee was the Acting Program Manager for Diversity & Inclusion, Acting Branch 

Chief for Web & Digital Media, Project Manager, and in the U.S. Dept of Health and Human 

Services Volunteer Recruiter Program. Her interest in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and 

Accessibility started during her time as a librarian.

Aimee is a 4th generation public servant. Her Bachelor of Arts is in Communications from SUNY New Paltz and she holds 

a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland at College Park. She also has a graduate 

certificate in project management from George Washington University.
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Erik Gerding | Director, SEC Division of Corporation Finance

Erik Gerding is Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and 

Exchange Commission. He joined the SEC from the University of Colorado School of Law, 

where he is a Professor of Law. He was previously on the law faculty at the University of 

New Mexico and taught as a visiting professor at the University of Georgia. Erik practiced in 

the New York and Washington, DC offices of a large international law firm. He is the author 

of Law, Bubbles, and Financial Regulation (Routledge 2014).

Gurbir S. Grewal | Director, Division of Enforcement

Gurbir Grewal is the Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Immediately before 

joining the Commission, he was the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey. Prior to 

that, he served as the Bergen County Prosecutor, the chief law enforcement officer for New 

Jersey’s most populous county. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grewal served as an Assistant 

United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where he was Chief of the Economic 

Crimes Unit, and an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, 

where he was assigned to the Business and Securities Fraud Unit. He also was an attorney 

in private practice. 

Mr. Grewal holds a J.D. from the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, 

and a B.S. in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Karen H. Healer | Senior Special Counsel, Office of the Ombuds

Karen H. Healer serves as Senior Special Counsel to the Ombudsman in the Office of the 

Investor Advocate. In this role, she is responsible for considering and evaluating the effects 

of proposed SEC and self-regulatory organization (SRO) rules on the broader market, retail 

investors, and market participants. Her work in the Ombudsman Office includes acting as a 

confidential liaison between retail investors, other regulators, and the SEC and participating 

in preparing Congressional reports about issues affecting retail investor protection and 

market regulation. Prior to this position, Ms. Healer served as Special Counsel in the Division 

of Trading and Markets and Regulatory Counsel in the Division of Examinations. In the 

Division of Trading and Markets, she worked in the Office of Clearance and Settlement to 

supervise SROs and their proposed rule changes, co-led an annual SRO Crisis Management 

Group with several international regulators in attendance, among other projects. In the Division of Examinations, she 

participated significantly in annual SRO US-based and international examinations and advising examiners, annual 

planning, annual compliance, and led the group’s annual training, among other projects.

Before joining the SEC in 2016, Ms. Healer worked for the Department Commerce, the Department of Treasury, and 

private practice in Palo Alto, CA where she gained a variety of experience with rule writing, compliance, examinations, 

and SRO functioning. She received her law degree from Yale Law School and her bachelor’s degree, magna cum 

laude, from Wellesley College where she was a Stephen Phillips Memorial Trust scholarship recipient for academics 

and public service. 
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Nicole G. Iannarone | Associate Professor, Drexel University Kline School of Law

Nicole G. Iannarone is an Associate Professor at the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline 

School of Law. Professor Iannarone studies consumer disputes with financial professionals, 

exploring the intersection between professional regulation, dispute resolution systems, 

transparency, and technology. She teaches courses in Business Organizations, Civil 

Procedure, Complex Litigation, Professional Responsibility, Securities Arbitration, and 

Securities Regulation. 

Professor Iannarone’s recent work examines retail investor experiences in investor versus 

stockbroker arbitration, focusing on barriers regular investors face in mandatory arbitration 

and recommending interventions to increase access to justice. Her articles have appeared 

or are forthcoming in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, Washington Law Review, Cardozo Law 

Review, Chicago-Kent Law Review, Tennessee Journal of Business Law, and Stetson Law Review. 

Professor Iannarone is the Chair of the FINRA National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC) and as a 

public member of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board of Standards Public Policy Council. She is also ChairElect of the AALS Securities Regulation Section and is a past Chair of the AALS Section on Employee Benefits and 

Executive Compensation.

Prior to joining the faculty at Drexel Kline Law, Professor Iannarone taught at Georgia State University College of 

Law, Mercer Law School, and Vanderbilt Law School. At Georgia State Law, she founded the Investor Advocacy 

Clinic which provided free legal services to retail investors who had been harmed by stockbroker misconduct. Before 

entering academia, Professor Iannarone was a partner and deputy general counsel of litigation boutique Bondurant, 

Mixson & Elmore where she represented plaintiffs and defendants in business torts and professional negligence 

matters. She is a past president of the Atlanta Bar Association and the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers and is a 

former Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Professionalism Committee and the Atlanta Bar Association Reputation and 

Public Trust Committee.

Professor Iannarone received her JD from Yale Law School where she served on the Yale Journal on Regulation, and 

graduated summa cum laude and with high honors in liberal studies from Brenau Women’s College.
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Robert A. Marchman | Senior Policy Advisor on Diversity and Inclusion, 

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

In January 2020, Mr. Marchman was appointed to the new position of Senior Policy Advisor 

on Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office 

of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). His responsibilities include advising Commission 

senior leadership, including the Chair’s Office, on the development and implementation 

of strategies to promote diversity and inclusion both within the SEC and through external 

engagement with agency partners and market participants. Mr. Marchman also serves as 

Chair of the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee Nominating Committee. In June 2010, Mr. 

Marchman joined Finra as Executive Vice President and Head of the Market Regulation 

Department’s Legal Group. Prior to joining Finra, Mr. Marchman, the first African-American 

Executive Vice President in the NYSE’s history, headed the New York Stock Exchange 

Regulation’s Enforcement Division and Regulatory Risk Group as well as its Market Surveillance Division. Mr. 

Marchman also served as Chairman of NYSE Diversity Council from its inception in 1999 until his departure from the 

NYSE. In 1983, Mr. Marchman commenced his legal career as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. 

Mr. Marchman is a magna cum laude graduate of Allegheny College, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He 

received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In addition, Mr. Marchman attended Harvard Business 

School’s Program for Management Development and received Certificates for Diversity and Inclusion studies from the 

Harvard Kennedy School and Cornell University. 
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Cristina Martin Firvida | Investor Advocate

Cristina Martin Firvida was appointed as the Investor Advocate and Director of the Office of 

the Investor Advocate at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January 

of 2023.

As the Investor Advocate, Ms. Martin Firvida leads an office that advocates for investors, 

assists retail investors in interactions with the Commission and with self-regulatory 

organizations (SROs), analyzing the impact on investors of proposed rules and 

regulations, identifying problems that investors have with financial service providers and 

investment products, and proposing legislative or regulatory changes to promote the 

interests of investors.

Prior to her appointment at the SEC, Ms. Martin Firvida was the Vice President for Financial Security and Livable 

Communities at AARP, where she oversaw federal and state advocacy on Social Security, pensions, retirement savings, 

financial services and other aspects of retirement financial security, as well as the federal budget, taxes, labor, housing, 

telecommunications, utilities, transportation and fraud. She was previously AARP’s Director of Financial Security and 

Consumer Affairs from 2008 to 2018 after starting as its Senior Legislative Representative in early 2008.

Prior to joining AARP, Ms. Martin Firvida was Director of Government Relations and Senior Counsel at the National 

Women’s Law Center, a leading research and advocacy organization for women’s equality and economic independence. 

She also worked at the Children’s Defense Fund as a Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow at Georgetown University 

Law Center.

Ms. Martin Firvida earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.A. from Yale University, is a Member of the District of 

Columbia Bar, and is bilingual in Spanish.

Ms. Martin Firvida has dedicated her life to advancing the financial security of Americans.

John Moses | Deputy Director, SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy

John Moses is a Deputy Director in the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy 

(OIEA), where he works on investor outreach and education. OIEA provides information to 

help individual investors make sound investing decisions. He previously worked as Managing 

Executive in the Office of the Chairman and began his SEC service as Deputy Director in the 

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. John has private sector experience in the real estate 

and hospitality industries and served in the U.S. Navy, where he was a surface warfare office 

and security team leader. John earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford 

University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in Washington, D.C.
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Stacy A. Puente | SEC Ombuds

Stacy A. Puente currently serves as Ombuds of the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In that role, she acts as a confidential liaison between retail investors, the SEC, and the 

self-regulatory organizations (SROs) subject to SEC oversight. Ms. Puente and her Office 

respond to investor inquiries, monitor trends in investor complaints, and may research or 

highlight for the SEC or SROs matters of significant impact on retail investors. The Ombuds 

Office summarizes its research, investor data, and initiatives undertaken on behalf of 

investors in biannual reports to Congress. Prior to her time in the Ombuds Office, Ms. Puente 

served as Senior Counsel in the Division of Trading and Markets’ Office of Chief Counsel, 

where she primarily worked on the drafting and implementation of Commission rules, as well 

as the evaluation of SRO rules for compliance with the federal securities laws. 

Before joining the SEC in 2015, Ms. Puente worked in private practice at law firms in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, 

where she specialized in securities litigation defense, large-scale internal investigations, and representing clients in 

arbitration proceedings. She received her law degree from Stanford Law School and her bachelor’s degree, summa cum 

laude with highest university honors, from the University of Texas at Austin.

John Sanders | Diversity Specialist/Program Manager, Office of Minority and 

Women Inclusion

John Sanders joined the SEC in July 2021 and serves as a Diversity Specialist/Program 

Manager in the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. In his current role, he develops 

and maintains strategic partnerships with colleges and universities to connect students with 

internship and career opportunities at the SEC. John also manages the SEC’s Diversity 

and Inclusion Internship Program which provides college students and recent graduates the 

opportunity to work with staff across the SEC.
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Paul T. Saulski | Senior Counsel, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy

Paul Saulski is an attorney in the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) 

where he works on investor outreach and advocacy, including spearheading the SEC’s 

military financial literacy efforts. 

Prior to joining OIEA, Mr. Saulski served in the SEC’s Office of International Affairs, where 

he worked in areas of cross-border investigations and enforcement, international regulatory 

policy, comparative financial regulation, and training foreign financial regulators. Before 

joining the SEC, he worked as an associate attorney in the Tokyo office of a large Wall Street 

law firm.

In 2010 Mr. Saulski served a detail to the U.S. Senate’s Senate Banking Committee, where he assisted with financial 

regulatory reform and Dodd-Frank implementation. In 2013 he was awarded a Mansfield Fellowship, a program where 

U.S. government officials work in counterpart government agencies and institutions in Japan. As a Mansfield Fellow, Mr. 

Saulski worked at the Japan Financial Services Agency, Japan Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan, and the Tokyo 

Stock Exchange. Mr. Saulski has also served as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law School where he 

taught classes on China’s financial markets and the international financial regulatory system. 

Mr. Saulski received his law degree from the Washington University in St. Louis Law School and an M.A. in East Asian 

studies from Washington University in St. Louis’ Graduate School of East Asian Studies. As a young man, Mr. Saulski 

served as an enlisted Marine in the Marine Corps Reserve and was activated and deployed for Operations Desert Shield/

Storm during the First Gulf War.

Qudsia Shafiq | Attorney-Advisor, Division of Exams, Atlanta Regional Office

Qudsia Shafiq is an Attorney-Adviser in the SEC’s Division of Examinations in the Atlanta 

Regional Office, focusing on examinations of investment advisers and investment companies.

Before joining the SEC, Qudsia served as Associate General Counsel at Edward Jones, 

where she provided legal guidance to business and compliance stakeholders regarding 

the firm’s investment advisory programs, including enhancements to advisory programs, 

implementation of new SEC rules and required ADV filings. Prior to her role in-house, Qudsia 

began her career in private practice where she advised state- and SEC-registered investment 

advisers on a variety of regulatory and compliance issues relating to the Investment Advisers 

Act, state securities laws and FINRA rules and regulations. Qudsia initially discovered her 

passion for securities law and the importance of retail investor protection as a student intern at Georgia State University 

College of Law’s Investor Advocacy Clinic. 

Qudsia received her B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from Georgia State University 

College of Law.
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Lisa Skrzycki | Senior Counsel, Office of the Ombuds

Lisa A. Skrzycki serves as Senior Counsel to the Ombudsman in the Office of the Investor 

Advocate. In this role, she is responsible for evaluating the potential effects of proposed SEC 

and SRO rules on retail investors, acting as a confidential liaison between retail investors and 

the Commission, and addressing retail investor inquiries and complaints about the SEC and 

the SROs it oversees. 

Prior to joining the Office, Ms. Skrzycki advised retail investors in her role as Special Counsel 

in the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. Ms. Skrzycki began her SEC service in 

2012 as a student intern in the Office of Trading Practices within the Division of Trading and 

Markets. She returned to the Office of Trading Practices after graduation, where her work 

focused on the drafting and implementation of the Volcker Rule and other matters of market integrity. A first-generation 

professional, Ms. Skrzycki received her law degree with honors from California Western School of Law and her 

bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Pittsburgh.

Danielle Specce | Chair’s Honors Program Attorney-Advisor,Office of the Investor Advocate

Danielle Specce currently serves as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Chief Counsel in the Office of the Investor 

Advocate. She is a participant in the Chair’s Attorney Honors Program.

Prior to joining the SEC in 2023, Ms. Specce worked at the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security 

Administration. She also worked as a tax associate at an accounting firm in New York. She received her J.D., cum laude, 

from Brooklyn Law School, and her B.A., cum laude, from Siena College.

Andrew Sporkin | Senior Advisor, Office of the Investor Advocate

Andrew has over 30 years of securities law experience working for the Commission as a 

staff attorney, branch chief, assistant director, and senior advisor in the SEC’s Division of 

Enforcement. He is currently a senior advisor in the SEC’s Office of the Investor Advocate. 

During his tenure at the Commission, he has developed a thorough and broad knowledge 

of the securities laws and markets. He has worked on investigations involving public 

companies, mutual funds, hedge funds, and commercial and investment banks for various 

types of securities law violations, which include accounting and financial fraud, registration, 

reporting, market manipulation, Ponzi schemes, markups, and insider trading. Andrew 

received his law degree with honors from the George Washington University Law School and 

his bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College.
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Allison Wise | Acting Director/Chief Diversity Officer, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

Allison Wise is currently the Acting Director and Chief Diversity Officer for the Office of 

Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 

(SEC). Prior to her current role, Ms. Wise was OMWI’s Deputy Director. As Deputy Director, 

Ms. Wise is a senior manager providing direction in developing, implementing, and monitoring 

programs and initiatives related to maintaining workforce diversity, cultivating workplace 

inclusion, promoting supplier diversity in the SEC’s business activities, and ensuring 

compliance with federal laws related to financially regulated entities.

Prior to joining the SEC, Ms. Wise was the Program Director for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) 

at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). She led OPM’s effort to shape the D&I 

landscape at a national level developing government-wide policies and guidance to assist Federal agencies in building 

diverse, inclusive, and engaged workforces. She also served as the first Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the National 

Archives and Records Administration (NARA) where she was instrumental in establishing NARA’s inaugural D&I Program 

Office and recognized with the Archivist’s award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Diversity.

Allison is a career public servant whose commitment and passion toward building and sustaining effective Diversity, 

Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs over the past 25 years is also evident in her active participation in the federal 

community. She has held several advisory roles on Federal DEI Councils and was the co-founder of the Federal 

Interagency Diversity Partnership (FIDP) which was established as a forum to promote a collective commitment to DEI 

among practitioners across the federal community at-large.

Allison Wise holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business 

and Executive Certifications in Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Management from both Georgetown University and the 

Harvard Kennedy School.
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PARTICIPATING CLINIC DIRECTORS AND 

LAW STUDENTS

(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

CORNELL LAW SCHOOL

Robert S. Banks, Jr.

Robert Banks is an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School. He is an attorney who has 

practiced for 40 years representing investors in disputes with the securities industry. He is a 

recipient of the Investor Champion Award from the North American Securities Administrators 

Association, a former President and board member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar 

Association, a past member of FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee, and a 

current member of FINRA’s Investor Issues Committee.

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Nicholas Hietpas

Zachary Hunt*

Jade Lee*

Jianing Zhao*
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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW

Scott Eichhorn 

Scott Eichhorn is an Associate Professor of Clinical Education and the Director of the 

University of Miami School of Law Investor Rights Clinic. The Clinic represents investors 

who have claims against their brokers in arbitration proceedings before FINRA, but whose 

claims are too small for them to be able to find legal representation. For more than 10 years, 

Professor Eichhorn has supervised the students at the Clinic and teaches a seminar on the 

substantive law of securities arbitration, broker-dealer regulation, professional responsibility, 

and practical skills, allowing the students to undertake all aspects of representation of clients 

in FINRA arbitration. The Clinic also advocates for investor protection through direct contact 

with lawmakers, comment letters on proposed rules and regulations, and community outreach 

programs. Professor Eichhorn is a regular participant on panels and contributor to written 

materials for securities-related seminars. He has also published articles relating to securities law and FINRA arbitration 

and has served as co-chair and member of several PIABA committees. Professor Eichhorn is currently serving a threeyear term as a member of the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee and serves on the CFP Board’s Standards 

Resource Commission.

Prior to joining the University of Miami, Professor Eichhorn was in private practice at Fowler White Burnett, P.A., practicing 

in commercial litigation and specializing in securities litigation in state and federal courts and FINRA arbitration. Mr. 

Eichhorn received his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and his B.S. in Journalism from the 

University of Florida.

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Jacob Bruner*

Eba Hendrickson

Maryann Lennon*

Ethan Lewin*
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ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Elissa Germaine 

Elissa Germaine is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Education and the Associate 

Director of the Securities Arbitration Clinic at St. John’s University School of Law. Previously, 

Professor Germaine spent 10 years teaching the Investor Rights Clinic at the Elisabeth Haub 

School of Law at Pace University and four years serving as the Executive Director of John 

Jay Legal Services, where she managed the not-for profit legal services firm that houses and 

runs Pace Law’s clinic and externship programs. She also has taught legal skills and legal 

writing at Pace Law and New York Law School. Before entering legal education, she practiced 

law at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco and served as a law clerk for the Honorable John 

S. Rhoades, Sr. in the United States District Court, Southern District of California.

Professor Germaine serves on the Investor Advisory Committee of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 

and is a past member of the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority 

(FINRA). She serves on the Editorial Board of the Bar Journal for the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA).

She received her law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and her undergraduate degree from 

Dartmouth College.

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Elizabeth Allhusen*

Regina Avrutis

Alexa Blandeburgo

Benjamin Bouwer

Maria Budis

Jaclyn Chin

Keitha Duhaney

Naomi Egwakhide 

Oghuma

Danielle Harrow

Hannah Marose

Chloe Nenner

Camille Perbost*

Elizabeth Tighe

Alexander Tomaro
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BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW, YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Elizabeth Goldman

Professor Goldman, who directs the Securities Arbitration Clinic and teaches courses on 

securities arbitration, securities regulation and pretrial practice, joined Cardozo as an adjunct 

in 2001. In 2005, Professor Goldman left the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 

(SEC) to join the faculty full time. During seven years of service as senior counsel at 

the Division of Enforcement of the SEC in the Northeast Regional Office in New York, 

she prosecuted numerous federal securities law violations. While at the SEC, Professor 

Goldman received multiple awards, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 

Chairman’s Award for Excellence. She also received awards from then U.S. Attorney Roslynn 

Mauskopf and then U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch for assistance in the criminal prosecutions 

of more than 100 individuals and corporate entities in significant cases involving federal 

securities law violations. She began her career as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Clarence C. Newcomer in the 

Eastern District of Pennsylvania before joining Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, where she litigated commercial and securities 

matters. Professor Goldman is a Full-Time Faculty member of Cardozo’s Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution. In 

addition to directing the Securities Arbitration Clinic, she teaches Pre-Trial Practice, Securities Arbitration, and Securities 

Regulation. 

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Ethan Ashley

Emaan Chudhry

Patrick Fan

Douglas Notaris

Samantha Sanchez*

Jamie Sung*
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PACE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Janene Marasciullo 

Janene Marasciullo is an Adjunct Professor of Law and the Director of the Fairbridge Investors 

Rights Clinic. She is also a practicing lawyer with extensive first-chair trial experience and a 

member of the American Arbitration Association’s Roster of Commercial Arbitrators. 

Since entering private practice in 2007, Janene has represented parties in securities and 

commercial disputes in federal and state courts across the country and at various arbitral fora, 

including FINRA Dispute Resolution. She has also counseled broker-dealers on a wide variety 

of compliance issues. Before entering private practice, Janene served as a Trial Attorney in 

the Commercial Litigation Branch and in the Tax Division of the United States Department 

of Justice. She also served as Senior Counsel in the Department of Enforcement and Office 

of General Counsel at NASD, the predecessor to FINRA. Janene clerked for the Hon. D. Brooks Smith in the Western 

District of Pennsylvania. She received her JD with honors from George Washington University and her BA from Franklin & 

Marshall College. 

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Ralph Fasano 

Ethan Kahn*

Jaylene Mejia*

Abby Miscioscia*
18

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Paul Radvany 

Professor Paul Radvany is a Clinical Professor of Law at Fordham Law School where he 

directs the Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic and also teaches a Leadership for 

Lawyers class. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Columbia Law School where he 

teaches a Federal Court Clerk Externship class and Trial Practice. He is the co-author for Trial 

Practice, 2d Edition, (2014) and his scholarship focuses on Alternative Dispute Resolution 

as well as various aspects of litigation. Professor Radvany is active in the clinical community, 

having served on the Planning Committee for the AALS Clinical Conference, Chaired the 

Teaching Committee of the AALS’ Clinical Section and helped organize last year’s New 

Clinicians’ Conference. 

Professor Radvany is also active in the mediation community and was appointed in 2016 to be one of a handful of 

mediators for a pilot mediation program for the Second Circuit and continues to be on the Second Circuit’s mediation 

panel. Professor Radvany currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the Eastern District of New York and was 

appointed to the inaugural Mediation Advisory Committee for the Southern District of New York. Professor Radvany is a 

past Chair of the AALS’ Litigation Section and has been appointed as a member of the Securities Industry Conference on 

Arbitration. 

Before joining Fordham’s faculty, Professor Radvany was a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States 

Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, where he oversaw the Securities and Commodities Fraud, Major 

Crimes, and General Crimes Units and directed the trial training program for new prosecutors. Before joining the U.S. 

Attorney’s Office, Professor Radvany was a litigation associate at Debevoise & Plimpton. He clerked for the Hon. Michael 

H. Dolinger in the Southern District of New York, and he received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from 

Columbia College.

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Talia Abed

Andrew Broom

Veenay Komoaragiri*

Patton Lu

Francy Monestime

Rian Morrissey

Matthew Sandor

Nicole Shields*

Jeremy Yohannan

Soo Young Yoon
19

HOWARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Bruce Sanders

Bruce Sanders has considerable experience in financial and investor protection law. After 

earning his law degree from the University of Michigan School of Law, he began his legal 

career with the Securities and Exchange Commission— Enforcement Division where 

he handled numerous financial and investor protection cases involving the misconduct 

of financial professionals, including stock brokers, investment advisors, and investment 

bankers, as well as publicly traded corporations. He later served as Regional Counsel for 

the predecessor to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), continuing the 

important work of protecting investors and enforcing investor protection laws against financial 

professionals. Mr. Sanders also served as trial attorney in the Department of Justice-Bank 

and Securities Fraud Section, and was responsible for prosecuting some of the Department’s 

most important financial fraud cases.

Since entering private practice, Mr. Sanders has served as counsel to many investors, corporations, broker-dealers 

and others, including representing investors involved in disputes with some of Wall Street’s largest financial services 

firms. He has also represented many investors, including professional athletes in the NBA and NFL, involved in financial 

transactions. He served as counsel to the investment banking team that financed the construction of the Verizon Center 

in Washington, DC, home of the NBA’s Wizards and NHL’s Capitols. Mr. Sanders has represented many investors in 

FINRA sponsored securities arbitration matters which have resulted in substantial monetary recoveries of investor money 

from financial professionals and firms. He has also served as Chairman on many FINRA sponsored arbitration panels 

rendering final decisions in disputes between investors and FINRA member firms and brokers. 

Mr. Sanders was delighted when Howard University School of Law hired him in 2010 to return to the law school, where 

he previously taught Securities Law, to develop and run a new Investor Justice & Education Clinical Law Program (the 

“IJEC”) initially funded by a generous grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. Mr. Sanders developed the 

curriculum for the IJEC, teaches and trains the student attorneys, and supervises the many securities arbitration cases 

for the IJEC’s investor clients. The IJEC provides free legal services to underserved investors involved in disputes with 

their financial professionals and FINRA-DR arbitration proceedings. The IJEC also provides investor protection education 

programs for the investing community, including schools, colleges, universities, churches, senior citizen groups, scout 

troops, fraternities, sororities, and other organizations.

As a result of his considerable financial and investor protection experience, Mr. Sanders has been retained to provide 

expert legal and regulatory counsel on many financial market development projects in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and 

the Caribbean. He has developed and run education and training programs for investors, financial professionals, and 

regulators from over fifty countries including the Republics of Ethiopia, Philippines, Lithuania, Moldova, India, Malaysia, 

Romania, as well as the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market based in St. Kitts & Nevis, West Indies. 

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Alexia Green

McKinley McNeill

Michael Peoples

Darwin Perry

Imani Stokley*

Kristian Joi Walker

Ashley Washaya*

Leila Whitlow
20

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF LAW

Rachael T. Shaw 

Rachael T. Shaw has focused her professional career on Investment Management and 

Federal and State Securities law. Professor Shaw provides law students with the unique 

opportunity to gain practical experience with actual clients in the practice area of securities 

law as an Adjunct Professor in the Securities Arbitration Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh 

School of law. Professor Shaw assists in all stages of the recovery of lost or stolen funds 

for small investors alongside law students. As an Adjunct Professor in the Securities Clinic, 

Professor Shaw also coaches students in the annual Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon 

at St. John’s University School of Law. The triathlon challenges students to negotiate, 

mediate, and arbitrate in a single competition, thus giving students the opportunity to hone 

their advocacy skills in a realistic securities dispute experience. 

Professor Shaw began her career as an associate in the Investment Management Group at Reed Smith LLP. In this 

capacity, Professor Shaw worked closely with Federated Hermes, Inc., as well as other large investment managers and 

financial institutions, counseling the client on a wide variety of investment management issues including compliance 

requirements, regulatory filings, and disclosure materials. Professor Shaw regularly advised mutual fund distributors in 

drafting and negotiating fund sales agreements with third-party intermediaries. Professor Shaw was a Junior Attorney on a 

transaction involving one of the nation’s largest investment manager’s acquiring a N.Y.-based investment manager for $57 

million dollars. This transaction was listed in the New York Law Journal. 

Following her time at Reed Smith, Professor Shaw worked as a judicial law clerk for The Honorable Jacqueline O. 

Shogan in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania where she assisted the Superior Court Judge in researching and drafting 

memoranda of law and opinions. 

After her clerkship, Professor Shaw returned to the practice of law as a member of the Business and Finance/ 

Investment Management Group at Tucker Arensberg, P.C. In this group Professor Shaw provided counsel on collective 

funds, securities matters, and regulatory and compliance issues. She drafted and negotiated various types of credit 

accommodations including secured and unsecured loans, and term and revolving credit facilities. She also documented 

and reviewed multi-bank credit facilities and represented corporate clients in a wide variety of maters including mergers 

and acquisitions, financing, and general contracts. 

Professor Shaw received her J.D. degree, summa cum laude, from the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, 

PA as well as her B.S.B.A. degree from Duquesne University as part of their 3/3 Law Early Admission Program. Professor 

Shaw is admitted to Practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Kyle Bobeck

Shannon Ging 

Dylan Kim*

Wesley Li

Daniel McTiernan*

Danny Obyrne
21

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF LAW

Alice Stewart 

Alice L. Stewart has focused her professional career on Federal Tax law and Federal and 

State Securities law. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Law as the Director of the 

LowIncome Tax Clinic, as Director of the Securities Arbitration Clinic and as a Clinical 

Professor, Professor Stewart has provided law students with a unique opportunity to gain 

practical experience in the practice areas of Federal income tax law and securities law. She 

has assisted hundreds of low-income tax clients through controversy and dispute with the 

Internal Revenue Service thereby saving hundreds of thousands of dollars for low-income 

taxpayers in the Pittsburgh community. She has also counseled both tax and securities 

seminar participants through outreach programs in and around the greater Pittsburgh area. 

For many years Alice has counseled senior citizens throughout Western Pennsylvania on 

securities fraud and identity theft. The Securities Arbitration Clinics have recovered over $500,000.00 in lost or stolen 

funds for small investors all represented by law students and under Professor Stewart’s supervision. 

Since 2008 Professor Stewart has served in United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania as a 

Mediator and Arbitrator for cases involving the Department of Justice and individual and corporate parties in litigation 

involving various tax issues. 

Professor Stewart’s trial experience includes: United States District Court trials and hearings; Orphans Court trials and 

hearings on Estate matters; Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Realty Transfer Tax and Estate Tax Appeal hearings; 

Internal Revenue Service Appeal hearings; United States Tax Court hearings; Orphans Court adoption hearings; custody 

conciliation hearings; support hearings; protection from abuse hearings; contempt hearings; termination of parental rights 

hearings; and adoption hearings.

Professor Stewart’s appellate practice experience includes: Income Tax appeals to the United States Tax Court; Estate 

Tax Audits and Appeals in both Federal and State Courts; and State Real Estate Transfer Tax appeals. Professor Stewart 

and her students also filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on an issue of national 

importance. In the case of Mannella v. Commissioner of IRS, the taxpayer urged the Third Circuit Court of Appeals 

to affirm the United States Tax Court’s invalidation of IRS reg. Section 1.6015-5(b)(1) which imposed a two-year time 

limitation for an individual to seek equitable spousal relief from a joint income tax liability under IRC section 6015(f). The 

case was remanded to the U.S. Tax Court for consideration of the taxpayer’s equitable tolling argument. 

Professor Stewart received her J.D. degree from the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, PA and a B.S.B.A. 

degree in Finance and Accounting from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA. She has been admitted to practice 

before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; the U.S. Tax 

Court; and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
22

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRITZKER SCHOOL OF LAW

J. Samuel Tenenbaum 

Sam Tenenbaum is a Clinical Professor of Law and the founder and director of the 

Northwestern Complex Civil Litigation and Investor Protection Center, an expert in the field 

of litigation and has practiced in courts throughout the United States as well as in foreign 

jurisdictions. He has co-authored FINRA’s Guide to Establishing a Law School Investor 

Advocacy Clinic and has helped law schools in the United States and Canada form such 

clinics. He is a Commissioner on the Uniform Laws Commission. He was a visiting Professor 

at Tel Aviv University School of Law in the spring of 2005 and fall of 2020, a visiting Professor 

at Hebrew University (Jerusalem) School of Law in the spring of 2011 and a visiting Professor 

at IDC (Herzelia) in the spring of 2018.

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Joshua Concannon

Yohei Fujita*

Mengyao He

Channah Klapper

Kate Richerson

Michael Rutsky

Asa Spurlock*

Avi Taub
23

SETON HALL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

David White 

Professor White is a nationally recognized innovator in the access-to-justice movement.

A former federal court complex commercial litigator and white-collar criminal defense attorney, 

Seton Hall recruited him from the private practice of law in 2010 to establish the Conflict 

Management Program. 

Throughout his tenure, Professor White has established strategic partnerships which provide 

no-cost legal assistance to vulnerable populations. These include the United States District for 

the Southern District of New York Representation in Mediation Practicum, the United States 

District Court for the District of New Jersey Settlement Conference Advocacy Program, and 

the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Investor Advocacy Program.

Federal courts in New York and New Jersey frequently call upon Professor White to mediate disputes which arise from 

allegations of employment discrimination and breach of commercial contract. He was the first attorney to serve as 

appointed independent counsel in a Gomez hearing, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit procedure 

which ensures fairness and voluntary compliance with settlement agreements. He is also an appointed neutral in matters 

before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

At the invitation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Professor White testified before its Investor Advisory 

Committee on the imperative to expand law school clinical services to retail investors of modest means. 

Professor White taught International & Domestic Dispute Resolution at Queen’s University (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and 

University College Dublin (Republic of Ireland) as a member of the Fordham University School of Law Summer Program 

faculty. He has been a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center (Negotiation Seminar) and 

remains a member of the adjunct faculties of the Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Intensive 

Mediation Advocacy Program; Dispute Resolution Processes; Interviewing & Counseling Seminar), the Fordham School 

of Law (Advanced Client Counseling Seminar), and the City University of New York John Jay College of Criminal Justice 

(Police Ethics; Constitutional Law).

Beyond the law, Professor White is an avid endurance athlete and has earned USA Track & Field Masters All-American 

honors in the 5k, 5-Mile, 10K, and Half Marathon events. He is the author of Negative Splits: A Middle-Aged, Newbie 

Runner’s Journey to the First Marathon (Magis Media 2017).

Clinic students:

* Asterisk indicates student presenters.

Dylan A. Lembo

Steven H. Pisano*

Melissa M. Rosol

Julia A. Wood*