Nicolas Morgan serves as the Office Chair of the firm’s Los Angeles litigation practice and is a partner in the Investigations and White Collar Defense practice.
He focuses his practice on complex securities litigation in state and federal courts and representations involving government investigations and white-collar crime allegations levied against individuals and businesses. In the course of his practice, he routinely represents securities issuers, company officers and directors, investment funds, analysts, and brokers in connection with SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) investigations, litigation, and arbitration. Mr. Morgan also counsels public companies, funds, and broker-dealers on securities compliance and corporate governance; conducts internal investigations; and assists in regulatory examinations initiated by the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance and Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations.
Mr. Morgan also previously served as Senior Trial Counsel in the SEC’s Enforcement Division. During his time there, he served as lead counsel on a wide variety of litigated matters including prosecution of insider trading, investment adviser fraud, revenue recognition fraud, broker/dealer fraud, mutual fund market timing, and market manipulation. Mr. Morgan also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.
RECENT REPRESENTATIONS
- Represented Mark Cuban, Nelson Obus, and Phillip Goldstein in connection with a constitutional challenge of the SEC’s use of administrative law judges.
- Represented the audit committee of a global biotechnology company in an internal investigation and SEC inquiry involving a purported revenue recognition whistleblower. The SEC terminated its investigation without taking any enforcement action.
- Represented a biopharmaceutical company in an SEC insider trading and Regulation FD investigation. The government terminated its investigation without taking any enforcement action.
- Represented the CEO of a Fortune 200 information technology services company in investigations by the audit committee, the SEC and the Department of Justice as well as in private civil litigation concerning options granting processes. The government terminated its investigations without taking any enforcement action.
- Advised a mutual fund company in an SEC “industry sweep” examination concerning compensation paid to the fund company’s portfolio administrator and related disclosure obligations.
- Represented a financial analyst company in an SEC investigation of purported false rumors, front-running and naked short selling, and insider trading allegations. After taking dozens of investigative testimonies and receiving hundreds of thousands of documents, the SEC terminated its investigation without taking any enforcement action.
- Represented an international foreign currency trading platform company in response to an emergency multi-million-dollar court action and application for a temporary restraining order concerning trade execution issues. The court denied the plaintiff’s application for a TRO, and the plaintiff withdrew its complaint within two weeks of filing, resulting in a complete victory for the client.
