Fenwick Expands Securities Litigation Department with Addition of SEC Associate Regional Director Michael Dicke

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenwick & West announced today that Michael Dicke, most recently the Securities and Exchange Commission's Associate Regional Director for Enforcement in San Francisco, is joining the firm as a partner in its securities litigation practice. Dicke will co-chair the Securities Enforcement group to focus on advising boards and management on SEC defense, compliance and internal investigations and to represent regulated entities and individuals in SEC and other government investigations and litigation.

During his 17-year tenure at the SEC, Dicke supervised or conducted hundreds of investigations involving every major subject area of the SEC's enforcement program, including financial reporting and disclosure, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), insider trading, Regulation FD, and regulation of hedge funds, investment advisers and broker-dealers.  As the head of enforcement for the San Francisco office since 2008, Mike led over 40 professionals in investigating and litigating SEC matters in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

"Mike is an extremely talented attorney with decades of experience with federal securities laws, and we are tremendously excited that he will be joining Fenwick," said firm Chairman Richard Dickson.  "Mike is especially well positioned to provide clients insight into the most current thinking and practices of the new SEC leadership. We are confident he will be a valuable asset to our clients and to other companies and individuals seeking seasoned counsel to guide them through the myriad regulatory and investigative matters they face."

"Over the years of working on matters across the table from Fenwick, I have developed a high level of respect for the firm's preeminent securities litigation attorneys and growing white collar, regulatory and litigation practices," said Dicke. "I look forward to joining the firm and continuing its momentum in representing companies and individuals in a wide range of SEC-related matters, an opportunity that is enhanced by the recent explosion of newly public and emerging technology companies."

Recently named Securities Litigation Department of the Year by The Recorder, Fenwick's Securities Litigation group defends shareholder actions and SEC and DOJ investigations across the country. The group also represents companies or boards conducting investigations in response to whistleblower allegations or possible insider trading, financial misstatements or FCPA violations. This summer, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a dismissal with prejudice obtained by Fenwick in a closely-watched securities class action for Immersion Corporation following an internal investigation and restatement. The group also recently represented a global technology company in connection with FCPA-related charges involving the company's subsidiaries in Russia, Poland and Mexico. Susan Muck, co-chair of the Securities Enforcement practice with Mike, was recently named Securities Lawyer of the Year in San Francisco by Best Lawyers.

"We are thrilled to welcome Mike," said Rodger Cole, chair of the firm's 100-lawyer litigation department. "He will be a valuable addition to our securities litigation team, and his arrival is well-timed.  Adding to our Securities Enforcement team will help us address the dramatic uptick we are seeing in SEC and audit committee investigations, whistleblower complaints, and SEC examinations of regulated entities."

Dicke earned his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was Articles Editor for the Minnesota Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, he was a law clerk for the Hon. Chief Judge Donald P. Lay on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.  After his clerkship, Mike was in private practice in San Francisco for several years, specializing in securities and other complex litigation, before joining the SEC in 1996. 

About Fenwick & West

Fenwick & West provides comprehensive legal services to ground-breaking technology and life sciences companies at every stage of their lifecycle. We craft innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions for established and emerging companies on issues ranging from venture capital, public offerings, joint ventures, M&A and strategic relationships, to intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, taxation, antitrust, and employment and labor law. For more than four decades, Fenwick has helped some of the world's most recognized companies become and remain market leaders.

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SOURCE Fenwick & West