2010 Annual Dinner

William R. McLucas Receives William O. Douglas Award
at 2010 Annual Dinner

 
The Eighteenth Annual ASECA Dinner was a festive occasion with more than 650 attendees, including SEC alumni, practitioners, industry officials, and SEC staff.  As usual, the event was held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the annual PLI program, “SEC Speaks.”  Not as usual, the date was March 25.  The original dinner scheduled for February 5 was postponed because of a record-setting blizzard in Washington. 

The evening began with opening remarks by ASECA President John Hartigan, followed by a toast to the SEC given by former Chairman David S. Ruder, who received the William O. Douglas Award in 2007.  A total of $50,000 in scholarships and writing competition prizes was awarded this year to law students and members of the SEC staff.

Following dinner, the William O. Douglas Award was presented to William R. McLucas, former Director of the SEC Division of Enforcement.  The Douglas Award, instituted by ASECA in 1992, is given each year to an SEC alumnus who has contributed to the development of the federal securities laws or has served the financial and SEC community with distinction. 

Mr. McLucas is currently a partner and Chairman of the Securities Department at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (“WilmerHale”).  He joined the firm in June 1998, following a 21-year career in the SEC Division of Enforcement.

In August of 1977, just two years out of law school, Bill McLucas was hired by Stanley Sporkin, then Director of the Division of Enforcement, as a staff attorney.  His first several years were spent in the Branch of Insurance Regulation investigating fraud by public companies in the insurance industry.  In 1980, Sporkin appointed McLucas a Branch Chief; in 1984, he was named an Assistant Director by John Fedders; and in 1986, Gary Lynch appointed him an Associate Director.  During these years, the SEC’s focus on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations and accounting and financial disclosure cases was ultimately overshadowed by the insider trading scandals of the 1980s, including the demise of the investment banking firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert.  

On December 26, 1989, Chairman Richard Breeden appointed McLucas Director of the Division of Enforcement, a position he held for the next eight years.  Under his leadership, the Division established a Task Force on Financial Institution Fraud, an emphasis on municipal securities and “pay to play,” and conducted a broad investigation of the commissions and spreads in the over-the-counter market, which resulted in broad reforms and greater transparency in the NASDAQ market.  During his 21 years on the staff, Mr. McLucas served under five Chairmen – Harold Williams, the late John Shad, David Ruder, Richard Breeden and Arthur Levitt, Jr. – and 19 Commissioners, including the current Chairman, Mary Schapiro, who served as a Commissioner from 1988 through 1994.

In private practice for the past 11 years, Mr. McLucas’s work has included representation of the Special Committees of the Boards of Enron and WorldCom, following massive accounting frauds at both companies.  In each instance, the reports issued by those Committees had a dramatic impact on the corporate governance issues facing public corporations.  He has been at the forefront of developments in advising both corporate management and Boards of Directors dealing with corporate crises.  

Mr. McLucas was introduced by Judge Stanley Sporkin, who originally hired him and for whom he worked in the Division of Enforcement.  Judge Sporkin’s memorable introduction included many stories about Bill’s tenure at the Commission. 

In accepting the award, Mr. McLucas praised the current leadership at the Commission and urged SEC staff to live up to their responsibilities to uphold the public interest and to make decisions based on facts and with fairness.  With the humor for which he is noted, he related several stories about his time at the Commission.