The Pickholz Law Offices Celebrates Its 10th Year Anniversary! Posted January 07, 2021 By Jason It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since I set out to form my own law firm. My vision was to create a law firm that would handle all types of securities investigations, from the SEC and the DOJ, to State authorities, to FINRA and other SROs, however the client might be situated, be it as a defendant, witness, or whistleblower. At the time, I received cautionary advice that I would not be able to represent securities defendants and witness... read more

New SEC Whistleblower Rules Amendments, Part 2Posted December 18, 2020 By JasonNew SEC Whistleblower Rules Amendments, Part 2 How Will The New SEC Whistleblower Rules Shape the Legal Landscape? The U.S. Congress created the SEC whistleblower program to incentivize individuals to report securities violations to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In doing so, Congress intended to assist the SEC in enforcing the federal securities laws and upholding a fair securities marketplace. Since the program's inception, whistleblowers have contributed significantly to the Commission’s law enforcement efforts. To date, SEC whistleblowers have assisted the Commission in collecting upwards of $2.5 billion in financial remedies. As discussed in Part 1 of this article, the SEC recently implemented amendments to the rules governing its whistl... read more

New SEC Rules Amendments Raise Concerns For Whistleblower Attorneys: How Justified Are They? Posted December 04, 2020 By Jason Two recent, momentous announcements by the SEC grabbed the attention of SEC whistleblowers and the whistleblower law firm attorneys who represent them. On September 28, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it granted its 100th whistleblower award. On October 22, 2020, the SEC announced that it granted a $114 million whistleblower award. This was the largest SEC whistleblower aw... read more

Defending An SEC Investigation: Jason Pickholz video rated 5 out of 5 stars: "One of the best programs, on any legal topic, I have ever seen." Posted October 19, 2020 By Jason Jason Pickholz taught a program for Lawline called “Defending An SEC Investigation”.   Since the SEC investigation video first aired, it has been rated 5 out of 5 stars, based on more than 230 viewer ratings (as of May 19, 2021). You can see some clips from the SEC investigation video at the bottom of this page.  The complete SEC investigation video is available on-line at Lawline’s website.  The program offers Continuing Legal Education credit for lawyers through Lawline. During the video, Mr. Pickholz shares some of his 25+ years’ worth of experience (since 1995) as a securities lawyer defending clients in SEC investigations, and in securities ... read more

The Impact Of COVID-19 On SEC Whistleblower Processes And SEC Enforcement Investigations Posted March 19, 2020 By Jason [Updated on April 4, 2020 to reflect new developments.]  Since a national emergency was declared a little over a week ago, there has been a lot of coverage of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.  However, very little if any of that coverage has addressed the impact of COVID-19 on SEC whistleblower processes or its impact on parties involved in SEC investigations. The SEC’s Home Office in Washington, D.C. Government announcements and ordinances, media articles, blogs, and social media posts, ha... read more

Update to Securities Crimes book written by Jason Pickholz now available. Posted February 03, 2020 By Jason With the recent release of the 2020 edition of Securities Crimes, the two-volume book now contains 128 pages of detailed SEC whistleblower information, not including appendices. Securities Crimes is published by Thomson Reuters, one of the preeminent legal publishers. Jason Pickholz, the founder of The Pickholz Law Offices LLC, is one of the book’s co-authors. Authors “Are Among The Leading Practitioners And Academics In ... read more

Insider Trading: Historic US House Bill Would Clarify What It Is And When It Is Illegal Posted January 15, 2020 By Jason 2019 Year-In-Review Part 3 For many years, it has been axiomatic that insider trading is illegal.  However, what exactly insider trading is and how to define it has caused some difficulty and conflict among the courts. In large part that is because -- believe it or not -- there is no federal statue actually defining what insider trading is. Therefore, what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission commonly does is to bring cases for the “empl... read more

US Senate & House Take Up SEC Disgorgement After Kokesh: 2019 Year-In-Review Part 2 Posted January 06, 2020 By Jason Congress took up SEC disgorgement during 2019 In today’s post, I discuss certain developments in 2019 that concern the continued viability of SEC disgorgement as a remedy against securities law violators. These 2019 developments are of great relevance to both SEC defendants and SEC whistleblowers alike, and are worth following as we head into 2020. For decades it has been accepted that the SEC can seek disgo... read more

Senate, House & 68 IGs Unite Behind Strong Whistleblowing Policy: 2019 Year-In-Review Posted December 29, 2019 By Jason Amid recent calls by certain individuals to reveal the identity of “the Ukraine whistleblower”, many potential SEC whistleblowers, and SEC whistleblower lawyers, have been wondering whether the U.S. government’s whistleblowing policy is still on their side.  It is. Year-end is a time when many people reflect upon the year that has just passed.  In that spirit, now is a perfect time to review some of the federal government’s resolutions... read more

SEC Whistleblower Award Winners Have These Things In CommonPosted December 19, 2019 By JasonThis year’s Securities and Exchange Commission’s Annual Report to Congress on the SEC Whistleblower Program describes some of the common characteristics shared by past SEC whistleblower award winners. The SEC’s 2019 Report To Congress For those who are unfamiliar with the SEC’s Annual Report, by law each year the SEC is required to provide a report to the U.S. Congress about its whistleblower program.  The Annual Report typically contains a lot of facts and statistics about the SEC whistleblower program.  It is a valuable resource for SEC whistleblowers and the SEC whistleblower attorneys who represent them.  [For my posts about prior years’ Annual Reports, see here and here.] This year’s Annual Report was released publicly durin... read more

Jason Pickholz Certified As A Neutral FINRA Arbitrator Posted December 12, 2019 By Jason The Pickholz Law Offices is pleased to announce that Jason Pickholz has been certified as a neutral FINRA arbitrator. About FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) is a not-for-profit self-regulatory organization authorized by the U.S. Congress “to protect America’s investors by making sure the broker-dealer industry operates fairly and honestly.” FINRA is overseen by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). ... read more

SEC Says Co. Violated Whistleblower Protection Rules By Impeding Investors Posted November 25, 2019 By Jason The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently amended a court Complaint to add charges that a company and its owner violated SEC whistleblower protection rules.  (For past cases in which the SEC brought actions against companies for violating whistleblower protection rules, see my earlier post here.) The recent case is SEC v. Collector’s Coffee, Inc. d/b/a Collectors Café, and Mykalai Kontilai.  According to the SEC’s ... read more

DB Whistleblower Award Denial Highlights The Importance Of Having Good Counsel At The Start Posted November 15, 2019 By Jason Last week, in a full written Opinion, a U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2017 decision to deny three claimants a share of an SEC whistleblower award related to Deutsche Bank (the “DB whistleblower award”). One of the unsuccessful claimants was an individual identified in court papers as “John Doe”.  The SEC lawyers who interacted with Doe described him as disjointed and incoherent, and stated that they did n... read more

Forbes article references SEC Whistleblower Information.com, The Pickholz Law Offices' free online encyclopedia. Posted February 19, 2019 By Jason Forbes Article Cites SEC Whistleblower Info, The Free OnLine Encyclopedia From The Pickholz Law Offices SEC Whistleblower Info, The Pickholz Law Offices’ free online encyclopedia, appears in a February 15, 2019 article published on Forbes' website.  The Forbes article is titled “Insider Files Whistleblower Report Against Domino’s Pizza”. The article discusses a corporate insider who filed what it calls “a well-documented whistle... read more

Can SEC Whistleblower Tips Be Submitted During The Shutdown? Posted January 03, 2019 By Jason The U.S. government began its shutdown on December 22, 2018.  As of today, the shutdown has gone on for 13 days.  It is now the fourth longest shutdown in U.S. history, and still going.  (CNN has a chart listing all federal government shutdowns since 1976 here.)  If you are an SEC whistleblower or an SEC whistleblower lawyer, you might be wondering whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is still accepting SEC whistleblower tips during the shutdown. ... read more

Record-Breaking Year For SEC’s Whistleblower Award Program Posted November 27, 2018 By Jason According to the SEC’s Annual Report to Congress, 2018 “was a record-breaking year” for the SEC’s whistleblower award program. OWB Chief’s Message About the SEC’s Whistleblower Award Program The SEC’s 2018 Report To Congress Each year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower (“OWB”) is required to submit a report to the U.S. Congress about the SEC’s whistleblower award program. ... read more

2019 Update To Securities Crimes Book Written By SEC Whistleblower Author Jason Pickholz Posted November 13, 2018 By Jason Thomson Reuters Releases 2019 Update to Securities Crimes 2d Thomson Reuters has released the 2019 update for the 2-volume book Securities Crimes, co-written by SEC whistleblower author Jason Pickholz. As explained by Thomson Reuters on its website, the book “provides a thorough review of the application of the securities laws and other criminal statutes in prosecutions, along with an in-depth consideration... read more

GOP, Dems, and Independents All Agree On One Thing: The SEC’s Whistleblower Program Posted October 15, 2018 By Jason Senators, Congressmen, and SEC officials all have high praise for the SEC’s whistleblower program. The SEC’s Whistleblower Program Has Proven To Be A Unifying Force. As we head into the 2018 mid-term elections, one refrain seems to be dominating the public headlines:  the country is fractured.  Fractured over issues stemming from athletes kneeling during the national anthem; fractured over issues surroun... read more

Do I Have A Good SEC Whistleblower Program Case? Posted June 22, 2018 By Jason A potential SEC whistleblower often wants to know whether he or she has a good SEC whistleblower program case.  This leads to the question of what type of SEC whistleblower program case the SEC might be interested in hearing about. Part of the answer to that question might come from looking at types of cases that the SEC has brought in the past.  To get started, you can take a look at prior posts that I have written about types of SEC cases by clicking here, here, here, and ... read more

Jason Pickholz video on the SEC whistleblower program rated 4.9 out of 5 stars (over 1,630 viewer ratings).Posted May 03, 2018 By JasonJason Pickholz taught a program for Lawline called “When The Whistle Blows:  What You Need To Know About Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes Oxley”.  The SEC whistleblower program video has been rated 4.9 out of 5 stars, based on more than 1,630 viewer ratings (as of May 19, 2021). You can see some clips from the program at the bottom of this page.  The complete video is available on-line at Lawline’s website.  It offers Continuing Legal Education credit for lawyers through Lawline. The program was originally presented as a live webinar, which was video recorded. During the program, Mr. Pickholz shares some of his extensive experience as an SEC whistleblower lawyer. Mr. Pickholz is joined on the prog... read more

New: Free SEC Whistleblower Information Website - SECWhistleblowerInfo.com Posted April 05, 2018 By Jason The Pickholz Law Offices Announces A New Online Encyclopedia:  Everything You Want To Know About The SEC Whistleblower Program The Pickholz Law Offices is pleased to announce that it has launched a new standalone website called SEC Whistleblower Information. The standalone website is free, and requires no login or sign-up to use. As of today, SEC Whistleblower Information consists of over 110 pages and subpages, with new pages being added regularly... read more

Supreme Court: Whistleblowers Must Report To SEC For Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protections Posted February 21, 2018 By Jason Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Digital Realty Trust v. Somers, a case that has been closely watched by SEC whistleblowers and SEC whistleblower attorneys.  In today’s Opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that employees must report to the SEC in order to be able to claim private Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections. Background Of The Case On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.  For background o... read more

Securities Crimes 2018 Update, With Expanded SEC Whistleblower Chapter Authored By Jason Pickholz Posted January 01, 2018 By Jason Thomson Reuters has released the new 2018 update to the two-volume book Securities Crimes, including an expanded chapter on the SEC whistleblower program.  With this year’s update, the SEC whistleblower chapter has grown to 105 pages plus appendices. Jason Pickholz is a co-author of Securities Crimes.  As one of the first SEC whistleblower lawyers to win an SEC whistleblower award for a client, and the first ... read more

Jason Pickholz Interviewed On Bloomberg Radio Posted November 28, 2017 By Jason Jason Pickholz, Book Author and SEC Whistleblower Lawyer On Bloomberg Radio Discussing Supreme Court Case Involving Whistleblowers -- Jason Pickholz appeared as a guest SEC whistleblower lawyer on Bloomberg Radio to discuss today’s U.S. Supreme Court arguments in Digital Realty v. Somers.  This case is being closely watched by SEC whistleblower attorneys and corporate lawyers alike. Mr. Pickholz appeared on the program as an SEC whistleblower ... read more

Does The SEC Give Sufficient Notice To Claim An SEC Whistleblower Award? Posted September 06, 2017 By Jason -- 2 Whistleblowers Ask The Second Circuit To Decide -- Under the SEC whistleblower program, people who provide information about securities frauds to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can receive monetary whistleblower awards.  Those awards can range from 10% - 30% of the amount of fines and penalties that the SEC collects from the transgressors, so long as the SEC collects more than $1 million from the perpetrators of the fraud.  In some cases, the SEC has given out whistleblower aw... read more