Michael A. Conley Named SEC's Deputy General Counsel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-200

Washington, D.C., October 4, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Michael A. Conley has been named a Deputy General Counsel in the SEC’s Office of General Counsel.

Mr. Conley has been promoted from the position of Deputy Solicitor and will serve as Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and Adjudication, a role in which he will help oversee enforcement matters, appellate cases, and adjudications.

Mr. Conley joined the Commission in October 2000, and has served as the Jennings Attorney Fellow, a Senior Special Counsel, and the Deputy Solicitor. Mr. Conley has extensive litigation experience and a deep knowledge of the U.S. securities laws combined with a background in law office management.

“Michael is a spectacular lawyer who will bring to his new position an extraordinary breadth of experience,” said SEC General Counsel Mark Cahn. “I have benefited from Michael’s wise counsel since I joined the Commission, and I know that he has earned, in his roles as Senior Special Counsel and Deputy Solicitor, the deep respect of his colleagues here at the SEC. I am delighted that he has agreed to serve in this new position.”

Mr. Conley said, “I have great respect for the talented and dedicated staff of the General Counsel's Office, who provide vital support to the Commission and its Divisions and Offices in carrying out the agency’s mission of protecting investors. I look forward to continuing to work alongside the staff in my new role, and I thank Chairman Schapiro and Mark Cahn for this tremendous opportunity.”

Mr. Conley began his legal career by serving as a law clerk, first for Judge Abner J. Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. He received his JD in 1989 from Boston University School of Law, where he graduated first in a class of 425 and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Boston University Law Review. He earned his BA from Iona College in 1984.

Mr. Conley replaces Anne Small who has left the Commission to take a position at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel to the President.