William E. White focuses on the representation of corporations and individuals in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement investigations, as well as related criminal investigations, internal investigations and securities litigation. Over the years, Mr. White has led or had a senior role in leading dozens of high profile securities matters. His experience includes—

• representing Raj Rajaratnam with respect to SEC and criminal insider trading charges
• representing two senior auditors of a non-U.S. affiliate of a Big Four accounting firm in SEC and PCAOB investigations related to audit work after a significant company fraud
• representing a major bank/investment bank in SEC, New York State Office of the Attorney General (NYAG) and various state investigations relating to the collapse of the auction rate securities market
• representing a Big Four accounting firm in SEC, Department of Justice, NYAG and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board investigations related to audit work after a multi-billion dollar restatement
• representing the audit committee of a major entertainment company in an internal investigation concerning possible backdating of stock options
• representing the audit committee of a public company in an internal investigation into whistleblowers’ charges of financial fraud; representing the board of directors in connection with the response to a shareholder demand related to the same conduct
• representing a public company in a purported class action lawsuit related to prospectus delivery requirements and filed in State Court in Illinois; the motion to dismiss was granted
• representing a major investment bank in an SEC enforcement investigation related to the supervision of a rogue broker who misappropriated more than $8 million from customers
• representing a major investment bank in internal investigations related to mutual fund marketing practices
• representing the director of a public company in an SEC investigation and subsequent litigation against the SEC related to purported insider trading
• representing the CEO of a broker-dealer in an SEC investigation related to mutual fund market timing/late trading
• representing the CEO of a mutual fund complex in an SEC investigation and civil litigation related to mutual fund market timing.

Before joining Akin Gump, Mr. White was a partner in the securities group at another international law firm. Earlier in his career, Mr. White served for eight years on the staff of the Enforcement Division of the SEC serving variously as a staff attorney, branch chief and senior trial counsel. While at the SEC, Mr. White led investigations and litigation involving accounting and financial fraud, insider trading, municipal securities, broker-dealer and investment adviser violations and market manipulation.

Mr. White received his B.A. in 1988 from Boston College. He earned his J.D. cum laude in 1991 from Pepperdine University of School of Law. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars and is admitted to practice before numerous federal courts. Mr. White also served as a law clerk to the Honorable James M. Ideman of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Mr. White also has been active in pro bono matters involving issues such as civil rights, military veterans’ claims and various family court matters. Most notably, Mr. White helped lead a team of lawyers who, along with co-counsel and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, secured the release from prison and full pardons for 38 African-American defendants from Tulia, Texas who had been convicted and sentenced ranging up to 90 years in prison based solely on the testimony of an unreliable, avowedly racist undercover agent. For his work in the case, Mr. White was a finalist (along with co-counsel) for the 2004 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award presented by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. The Tulia case was the subject of a prize-winning book, "Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town" by Nate Blakeslee and a PBS documentary, "Tulia, Texas." Mr. White is also a member of the advisory board for Legal Counsel for the Elderly.