WASHINGTON—Gerald Hodgkins has joined Covington as a partner in the Securities Litigation and Enforcement and White Collar Defense and Investigations practices in Washington. Mr. Hodgkins most recently served as an Associate Director in the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission and has worked at the SEC’s Enforcement Division since 1997.
During his 20-year tenure at the SEC, Mr. Hodgkins oversaw more than 100 enforcement actions, including high-profile cases involving public company accounting and disclosure, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), broker-dealer and investment adviser regulation, options backdating, and insider trading. The enforcement actions he oversaw included a $750 million settlement with WorldCom, the largest penalty in SEC history for issuer reporting and disclosure fraud, and a $468 million settlement in the first, and still largest, settlement involving Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Mr. Hodgkins also served as a founding member of the SEC's Claims Review Staff, which makes recommendations to the Commission concerning when and how much to award whistleblowers under the SEC's whistleblower program. He also has served as a member of the SEC's National Labor Management Forum.
“Jerry’s broad experience at the SEC will allow him to provide clients with practical, thoughtful, and effective counsel during sensitive investigations and proceedings,” said David Kornblau, chair of Covington’s Securities Litigation and Enforcement practice and former Chief Litigation Counsel at the SEC Enforcement Division.
“Jerry is an important addition to Covington’s leading investigations and enforcement practices,” said Mythili Raman, co-chair of the firm’s White Collar and Investigations practice and former head of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. “Jerry’s deep experience at the SEC will serve our clients extremely well.”
At Covington, Mr. Hodgkins will have a broad regulatory enforcement practice, focusing on broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other regulated entities, public companies and audit firms in accounting-related investigations, and companies and individuals facing FCPA inquiries.
“I was attracted to Covington because of the quality of its lawyers and its culture of teamwork and collaboration,” Mr. Hodgkins said. “I look forward to playing a key role in enhancing the firm’s SEC enforcement practice and complementing the firm’s prominent white collar and investigations practice.”
Before joining the SEC, Mr. Hodgkins served as a law clerk to the late Honorable Charles R. Richey of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and was a litigation associate in private practice for two years. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University.
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