Cravath adds ex-SEC vets Roisman, Leete to new D.C. office

Elad Roisman, former commissioner and acting chairman of the SEC, and Jennifer Leete, former associate director in the agency’s Division of Enforcement, will join the firm as partners. Cravath also announced the appointment of Jelena McWilliams, former chairman at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as managing partner of the new office.

Roisman, Leete, and McWilliams will advise Cravath’s clients across a range of sectors, including financial services; fintech and emerging technology; regulatory, corporate governance, and investigation matters; and mergers and acquisitions, initial public offers, and other capital markets transactions.

During his tenure at the SEC, Roisman helped modernize the regulation of the U.S. equity markets as well as the Treasury markets. He joined the agency after serving as chief counsel with the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Prior to his work in the Senate, he served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher, chief counsel at NYSE Euronext, and as a corporate lawyer in private practice in New York.

Leete, who served for more than 20 years at the SEC, supervised a broad range of probes and enforcement actions, managed a team of more than 40 attorneys, and collaborated closely with the agency’s regulatory divisions.

She also led investigations in emerging areas of securities laws, including in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space; digital assets; cryptocurrencies; Regulation Best Interest; and insider trading, internet and offering frauds, and Ponzi schemes. Her prior roles at the SEC included assistant director, branch chief and staff attorney.

McWilliams led the FDIC from 2018-22. She previously served as executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Fifth Third Bank and chief counsel and deputy staff director with the Senate Banking Committee.