“And since I had a speech in San Diego, I used that time on planes to decide whether I wanted to practice law again.”
After deciding that she did, Ms. White said it was not difficult to choose Debevoise, which, she said, had “the pre-eminent white-collar practice
and many of the finest lawyers and colleagues with whom I have ever worked.”
After joining the securities commission in April 2013, Ms. White sought a stricter crackdown on securities
violators, changing the agency’s practice of allowing companies to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing.
Ms. White, who announced plans in November to leave the Securities
and Exchange Commission as its chairwoman, will serve as senior chairwoman of the law firm, focusing on counseling boards and representing clients on significant and delicate legal matters, including companies facing crises involving multifaceted government investigations and cases.
Mary Jo White, the former top government securities law enforcer, is returning to Debevoise &
Plimpton, the New York-based law firm where she previously headed its litigation department.
