Cozen O'Connor Adds SEC Litigator in NY

NEW YORK – Feb. 23, 2012 - Cozen O’Connor announced that Joseph Dever has joined the firm’s New York City office from the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), where he served as assistant regional director in New York.  Dever joins as chair of the firm’s securities litigation and SEC enforcement practice group. He will focus his practice on representing and counseling clients in connection with SEC, FINRA, and other government investigations and regulatory matters, and litigating private securities and shareholder disputes in state and federal court.

“Joe is one of the premier securities attorneys in the country,” said Cozen O’Connor Litigation Department Co-Chair Jeffrey G. Weil. “He has spent the past eight years of his career enforcing U.S. securities laws and I can’t think of anyone better to help our clients navigate those complex regulations.”

As assistant regional director at the SEC, Dever was responsible for investigating and litigating complex securities matters. He personally supervised more than 100 investigations and litigations involving a wide variety of securities law violations, including:  public company accounting fraud; books, records and internal controls violations; insider trading; Ponzi schemes; offering and investment frauds; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations; mutual fund and hedge fund fraud; and unregistered securities offerings.  In recognition of his service at the SEC, Joe received the Chairman’s Supervisory Excellence Award and twice received the Division Director’s Award.

“Cozen O'Connor has made a major impression on the marketplace in the past few years. This is a firm on the move,” said Dever. “I was very impressed by Jeff Weil and saw a real opportunity to bring my experience with SEC enforcement to his team and play an important part in building that practice.”

Prior to joining the SEC, Dever worked for six years as a litigation associate at Morgan Lewis where he gained first-chair trial and arbitration experience.  He represented clients in private securities and shareholder litigations, as well as commercial litigations and business disputes.

Dever earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, with honors in History, in 1990, and his law degree cum laude from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he was Articles Editor on the Temple Law Review, in 1995.  Following law school, Dever served a two-year federal clerkship with the Honorable Raymond J. Broderick, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Established in 1970 and ranked among the 100 largest law firms in the United States, Cozen O’Connor has 575 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and ambitious middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 21 offices across two continents.