SEC Whistleblower Award Program

Pickholz Victory Recognized As A Defining Moment In The SEC Whistleblower Award Program

Inside Counsel Magazine Names The Pickholz Law Offices' Victory As One Of The Five Milestones In The History Of The SEC Whistleblower Award Program

On July 31, 2014, The Pickholz Law Offices won one of the first awards given out under the SEC whistleblower award program.  Not only was this one of the first awards granted, but it was also the first SEC whistleblower reward ever granted on appeal.

This unprecedented victory led Inside Counsel magazine to name it as one of the five key events in the history of the SEC whistleblower award program.

Excerpt from the Inside Counsel article

The Award Generates Extensive Media Coverage

In addition to Inside Counsel magazine, many other professional news outlets recognized that the reward we won for our client was a very significant turning point for the SEC whistleblower award program.

For example, The New York Times ran a story about the award called "The Man Who Blew The Whistle".

The Boston Business Journal published an article called "Former MassMutual agent: Why I became a whistle-blower".

Colgate University published an extensive article called "The $2.5 Billion Math Problem", and posted a documentary featuring our client on YouTube.

How The SEC Whistleblower Award Came About

The client hired us to be his SEC whistleblower law firm.  On behalf of our client, we submitted an application for an SEC whistleblower award.  The SEC's Claims Review Staff ("CRS") issued a Preliminary Determination in which it denied our client any award at all.  The reasoning that the CRS gave was that it believed that our client did not provide his information to the SEC "voluntarily", as is required under the rules governing the SEC whistleblower award program.

Acting as the client's SEC whistleblower lawyer, our Firm's founder Jason Pickholz contested that decision to the full Commission in Washington, D.C.

On appeal, the Commission agreed with us and our client, and departed from the CRS's recommendation to deny our client an SEC whistleblower reward.  Instead, the Commission granted our appeal and gave our client an award that now stands as one of the marquee events in the history of the SEC whistleblower award program.

You can see the actual award on the SEC's website by clicking here.

A Note About Inside Counsel Magazine's Website

The article recognizing our victory as one of the five major events in the history of the SEC whistleblower award program was posted on Inside Counsel magazine's website From August 2014 - March 2018.

In 2015, ALM acquired Inside Counsel.  On or around March 2018, ALM shut down the Inside Counsel website on which the article had been hosted.  As of March 16, 2018, ALM had not yet reposted the article on its own website.