Thomas C. Newkirk, associate director in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement, will depart the commission in November after 19 years of service to become a partner in the Washington office of the law firm of Jenner & Block LLP.
Newkirk, who joined the commission in 1986 as chief litigation counsel in the Division of Enforcement, has served as associate director for the past 11 years, organizing, managing and directing enforcement investigations and providing legal advice to senior SEC officials and the commission.
During his tenure at the SEC, Newkirk directed fraud investigations in notable cases such as Royal Ahold, PNC Financial Services Group, Tyco, Arthur Andersen, Waste Management, Sunbeam and Cendant. Newkirk received numerous awards during his tenure at the SEC, including the SEC's Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor.
"Tom Newkirk has been a great asset to the commission," SEC Chairman William H. Donaldson said. "During my tenure as chairman, he has consistently impressed me with his intelligent, tough and fair approach to the work we do here. He has brought to fruition some of the most important, complicated cases we have filed."
As the SEC Division of Enforcement's chief litigation counsel from 1986 to 1992, Newkirk directed the commission's litigation against Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken, First Jersey, and "Crazy Eddie" Antar. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy, where he helped secure two of the largest judgments ever collected by the government in U.S. vs. Exxon and In re Dept. of Energy Stripper Well Litigation. He has also been a senior attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, an assistant counsel for the U.S. Senate's Securities Industry Study, and an associate in a major Wall Street law firm.
