Jordan A. Thomas

Jordan Andolini Thomas (born Paul Thompson)[1] is an American attorney, writer, speaker and media commentator.[2] He is a partner and Chair of the Whistleblower Representation Practice at Labaton Sucharow LLP (2011–present), where he represents whistleblowers reporting violations of the federal securities laws to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).[3]

Jordan A. Thomas
Jordan A. Thomas
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSouthwestern University School of Law, J.D., Bennington College, B.A.
OccupationAttorney, Whistleblower Advocate
Years active1995–present
OrganizationChair, Whistleblower Representation, Labaton Sucharow LLP
Websitehttp://www.secwhistlebloweradvocate.com/

He began his legal career as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Navy (1995–1999).[4] Prior to entering private practice, Thomas served as an Assistant Director and Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel in the SEC's Division of Enforcement (2003–2011) and as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice (1999–2003). Thomas served as the Chair of the Investor Rights Committee of the District of Columbia Bar (2014–17) and a board member of the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association. (2013–16).[5]

Early life and education

Thomas stated he had a troubled childhood in Los Angeles, becoming an emancipated minor at 15.[6][1] He eventually moved to Vermont to break from his past life, legally changing his name to Jordan Andolini Thomas. He chose Michael Jordan and Vito Andolini Corleone as his namesake, while electing Thomas as it was similar to his original surname, Thompson.[1] He attended Bennington College, where he received his B.A.; he later earned his J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law.[7]

Professional history

SEC Enforcement experience

While at the SEC, Thomas played a role in the development of the SEC Whistleblower Program, established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.[4] Thomas also developed and served as the first National Coordinator of the SEC's Cooperation Program, designed to encourage individuals and companies to self-report violations of the federal securities laws and to participate in the SEC's investigations and enforcement actions.[8]

Private whistleblower representation

After leaving the SEC, Thomas joined Labaton Sucharow LLP as a partner.[9] He founded and chairs the first national legal practice exclusively devoted to protecting and advocating for whistleblowers who report possible securities violations to the SEC.[10] In explaining his decision to leave the Commission, Thomas said, "I believe the SEC whistleblower program will revolutionize the way the SEC enforces the securities laws. And having helped give birth to the program, I would like to be part of seeing it be successful."[11]

He represented the first officer of a public company to win an SEC whistleblower award, the first SEC whistleblower to receive criminal immunity and the first SEC whistleblower to receive an award because his company retaliated against him.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Whistleblower cases

JPMorgan—Thomas represented a whistleblower responsible for the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission's $307 million settlements with two J.P. Morgan wealth management subsidiaries in December 2015.[18][19][20] The New York Times called the settlement a "black mark for JPMorgan's asset management division," which had over $1 trillion of assets under management.[21][22] From 2008 to 2015, the subsidiaries failed to disclose numerous material conflicts of interest, including, but not limited to their preference for investing in the firm's more expensive proprietary investment products or third-party managed hedge funds that made payments to a JPMorgan affiliate.[23] This case directly impacted more than 100,000 clients and was the largest monetary sanction ever levied against an investment adviser and the second largest SEC enforcement action of the year.[24]

Merrill Lynch—Thomas represented the whistleblowers responsible for the SEC's $415 million settlement with Merrill Lynch in June 2016.[25][26][27][28] In discussing the importance of the record-setting settlement, Andrew Ceresney, the SEC Director of Enforcement, said "[t]he rules concerning the safety of customer cash and securities are fundamental protections for investors and impose lines that simply can never be crossed."[29] From 2009 to 2015, Merrill Lynch misused customer cash to generate profits for the firm, failed to safeguard customer securities from the claims of creditors and used illegal secrecy agreements that impeded employees from voluntarily providing information to the SEC.[22] The wrongdoing in this case involved more than $50 billion in customer assets, led to a new industry-wide initiative by the Commission to find similar violations by other firms, was "by far the largest customer protection settlement in SEC history" and the largest SEC enforcement action of the year.[30][31][32][24]

Visium Asset Management—Thomas represented the whistleblower responsible for the Department of Justice and SEC investigations of Visium Asset Management, an $8 billion hedge fund.[33] The whistleblower had himself been part of the scheme he reported.[34] Law enforcement and regulatory authorities charged that three rogue portfolio managers at the firm had mishandled the valuation of its credit portfolio, and that two of them had engaged in insider trading.[35][36][37] The investigation led to the 2016 wind-down of a Wall Street behemoth and the successful criminal prosecution of one rogue trader, as a second rogue trader pleaded guilty.[38] It was the most high-profile shutdown since Steve Cohen's SAC Capital closed in 2013.[39]

Harbert Management—Thomas represented, with co-counsel from Getnick & Getnick LLP, the whistleblower responsible for the New York Attorney General's $40 million settlement with Alabama-based Harbert Management Corporation and top executives at the firm in April 2017.[40][40] Harbert Management was the fund sponsor for Harbinger Capital Partners, a $26 billion hedge fund based in New York City. The settlement, the largest-ever recovery of its kind, resolved whistleblower allegations that members of Harbinger's investment manager failed to pay millions in New York State tax on performance income for several years. Attorney General Schneiderman praised his client's "vital assistance in bringing this matter to light" and stated, "our investigation uncovered a brazen and deliberate decision to avoid paying millions in taxes owed to New York State. Harbert Management made a clear choice to skirt the rules and as a result, ordinary New York taxpayers were left footing the bill."[41]

Orthofix International—Thomas represented two whistleblowers responsible for the SEC's $8.25 million settlement with Orthofix International, a Texas-based medical device company, in January 2017.[22] His clients, Wall Street analysts, tipped the government to the most serious charges facing the company, accounting failures that caused the company to materially misstate financial statements from at least 2011 to the first quarter of 2013.[42] "Orthofix's accounting failures were widespread and significant, causing Orthofix to make false statements to the public about its financial condition," said Antonia Chion, Associate Director in the SEC's Enforcement Division.[43]

Public whistleblower advocacy

Domestically, Thomas has lobbied lawmakers to preserve the pillars of the SEC Whistleblower Program—anonymous reporting, employment protections and monetary awards. Troubled by the use of secrecy agreements and retaliation to silence SEC whistleblowers, in partnership with the Government Accountability Project, he led a coalition of more than 250 organizations and nearly two million citizens to petition the SEC for action.[44][45] Following this grassroots advocacy, the Commission has aggressively prosecuted numerous prominent companies for engaging in these illegal practices.[46]

Internationally, Thomas has been invited to engagements at the United Nations, UK House of Commons and Australian Parliament.[47][48][49][50] Following public hearings which included his testimony about the SEC Whistleblower Program and its potential application in Ontario, the Ontario Securities Commission established a whistleblower program.[51][52][53][54][55] Similarly, after a review of the issue that included several international assistance visits by him and his testimony before the Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, the Australian government agreed to introduce stronger corporate whistleblower protections and to conduct a parliamentary inquiry into the merits of introducing a corporate whistleblower program in Australia.[56][49][50]

Publications
  • Recruit or Resist? Corporate Culture and the Whistleblower, Law360, September 2017[57]
  • SEC Insider's Guide—A Guide to the SEC's Investigative and Enforcement Process, Labaton Sucharow, August 2017[58]
  • Happy Anniversary, Dodd-Frank, New York Law Journal, July 2017[59]
  • Reporting Without Regrets—The SEC Whistleblower Program Handbook, Labaton Sucharow, May 2017[60]
  • Knowledge is Power—The Securities Law Handbook, Labaton Sucharow, May 2017[61]
  • Policing the Banks is an Inside Job, The New York Times, September 2016[62]
  • 5 Tips for Potential Corporate Whistleblowers, The New York Times, November 2015[63]
  • The Street, The Bull and The Crisis—A Survey of the US & UK Financial Services Industry, University of Notre Dame and Labaton Sucharow, May 2015[64]
  • Whistleblowing on Wall Street, CNBC, December 2014[65]
  • Support Protections for Whistleblowers, The New York Times, August 2014[66]
  • Wall Street's New Enforcers Aim to Muzzle Whistleblowers, The New York Times, July 2014[67]
  • Enhanced Protections for Whistleblowers Under the Dodd-Frank Act, CPA Journal, January 2013[68]
  • Overwhelming Majority of Americans Oppose Corporate Corruption, So Why Aren't Political Parties Listening?, International Business Times, September 2012[69]
  • How Wall Street Creates Criminals, USA Today, September 2012[70]
  • When Can an Officer Blow the Whistle?, Risk Management Magazine, August 2012[71]
  • Balancing Conscience and Confidentiality for Attorney Whistleblowers, Corporate Counsel, June 2012[72]
  • The Limitations of Corporate Compliance—Establishing a Culture of Integrity in an Era of Scandal, New York Law Journal, November 2011[73]
  • Advocacy & Counsel for the SEC Whistleblower—A Primer for Employment Lawyers, Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report, October 2011[74]
  • Point Counterpoint—Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Rules, Law 360, August 2011[75]

Awards and recognition

In 2017, Labaton Sucharow was shortlisted among the Financial Times Most Innovative North American Law Firms List as a "Standout" in the Rule of Law and Access to Justice category. Thomas, as Chair of the firm's Whistleblower Representation Practice, was commended for helping establish the SEC's Whistleblower Program as well as winning several landmark cases to expose the extent of global corporate wrongdoing.[76]

In both 2013 and 2012, the Ethisphere Institute named Thomas to its listing of "Attorneys Who Matter," which recognizes leading practitioners in the world of corporate ethics and compliance.[77]

In 2012, Thomas was named a "Legal Rebel" by the American Bar Association Journal.[78]

While at the SEC, Thomas received four Chairman's Awards, four Division Director's Awards and a Letter of Commendation from the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.[79]

Thomas was twice awarded the Rear Admiral Hugh H. Howell Award of Excellence—the highest award the Navy can bestow upon a reserve judge advocate.[79]

References
  1. "Episode 916: The Whistleblower Whisperer". NPR.org. 17:40. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  2. "Jordan Thomas Wrote the Rules on--and Represents--Whistleblowers". www.abajournal.com. Stephanie Francis Ward, Stephanie Francis Ward. Retrieved 2017-10-31.CS1 maint: others (link)
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  4. Rubenfeld, Samuel (2011-07-12). "SEC Lawyer Leaves To Help Whistleblowers". WSJ. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  5. "Mei Lin Kwan-Gett to Chair City Bar Fund; New Board Members Announced | City Bar Justice Center". City Bar Justice Center. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
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  9. "Senior SEC Attorney Joins Labaton Sucharow To Launch Whistleblower Practice: An Architect of Revolutionary Enforcement Programs Joins Firm Widely Regarded for Commitment to Reform". www.labaton.com. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
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  36. "SEC.gov | Hedge Fund Managers and Former Government Official Charged in $32 Million Insider Trading Scheme". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
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  74. "Advocacy & Counsel for the SEC Whistleblower: A Primer for Employment Lawyers - Report SEC Fraud". Report SEC Fraud. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  75. "Point-Counterpoint: Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Rules - Report SEC Fraud". Report SEC Fraud. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
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  78. Ward, Stephanie Francis (September 27, 2012). "Jordan Thomas Wrote the Rules on—and Represents—Whistleblowers". ABA Journal, Legal Rebels. Retrieved October 25, 2013. http://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/jordan_thomas_silent_no_more/
  79. Practising Law Institute. "Faculty Profile: Jordan A. Thomas". Retrieved November 7, 2013. http://www.pli.edu/Content/Faculty/Jordan_A_Thomas/_/N-4oZ1z12upg?ID=PE1046966
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