The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Andrew Vollmer as the agency’s acting general counsel. In this new role, Vollmer will be the chief legal officer of the Commission and head the Office of the General Counsel, which advises the Commission on various matters including enforcement actions, rulemakings, appellate briefs, and adjudications, and provides a variety of legal services to SEC staff.

Before joining the SEC in 2006 as deputy general counsel, Vollmer was a partner in the international law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where he was vice chair of the firm’s Securities Department and previously served as one of two partners managing the firm’s London office.

Vollmer succeeds Brian Cartwright, who left the agency to return to the private sector.