Mary Jo White

Mary Jo White, who has previously served as the Chair
of the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission and United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, is Senior Chair of the
firm, a litigation partner in the New York office of
Debevoise, and leader of the firm’s Strategic Crisis
Response and Solutions Group.

Ms. White’s practice focuses on representing clients on significant and sensitive
matters, including companies facing crises involving multi-faceted government
investigations and cases, internal investigations, and counseling boards of
directors. She has decades of experience prosecuting and defending a wide range
of white collar criminal and civil cases. Ms. White is recognized as an Eminent
Practitioner in Securities Enforcement and White Collar-Crime and
Government Investigations by Chambers USA (2023), where she is said to be “a
leading light in the securities practice.” She is described by one peer as “the
single best white-collar lawyer I’ve worked with, bar none.” The guide has also
described her as a doyenne of the white collar bar and “a towering figure” in the
litigation market. Ms. White is also recognized by The Legal 500 US (2023) in its
Hall of Fame and Securities Docket’s 2020 “Enforcement 40” includes her in its
list of the 40 best securities enforcement defense lawyers in the business.
Prior to rejoining the firm in 2017, Ms. White served for nearly four years as

Chair of the SEC. She was nominated by President Obama to lead the SEC and
was one of the Commission’s longest-serving Chairs.
Prior to joining the SEC in 2013, Ms. White was the Chair of Debevoise’s
Litigation Department. During that time, her practice concentrated on internal
investigations and defense of companies and individuals accused by the
government of involvement in white collar corporate crime or SEC and civil
securities law violations, and on other major business litigation disputes and
crises.

Ms. White also previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District
of New York from 1993 to 2002. She is the only woman to hold the top position
in the more than 200-year history of that office, which has the responsibility of
enforcing the federal criminal and civil laws of the nation. Ms. White also
served as the first Chairperson of Attorney General Janet Reno’s Advisory
Committee of U.S. Attorneys from all over the country.
Ms. White is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and the
International College of Trial Lawyers. She is the recipient of numerous awards
and is regularly ranked as a leading lawyer by directories that evaluate law firms.
In addition, Ms. White has served as Director of The Nasdaq Stock Exchange,
and on its Executive, Audit and Policy Committees. She is also a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations.

Ms. White graduated from William & Mary, Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A., The
New School for Social Research with an M.A. in Psychology, and Columbia Law
School with a J.D., where she was an officer of the Law Review.