Adam Wasserman, long recognized for “experienced, sage counsel,” is the managing member of August Way Law & Consulting.  Mr. Wasserman has more than 25 years’ experience in the legal, finance, securities, and ESG spaces, including:

Head of Enforcement at New York Stock Exchange

Prior to founding the Firm, Mr. Wasserman was Head of Enforcement at the New York Stock Exchange, where he spent seven years – first rebuilding NYSE’s market regulation program from the ground up and subsequently leading its Enforcement group working to ensure that NYSE’s markets remained safe and fair.  While at NYSE, Mr. Wasserman:

• oversaw hundreds of investigations by both NYSE and FINRA Enforcement;

• coordinated closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other exchanges and regulators; and

• founded the Cross-Market Regulatory Working Group (with Nasdaq, CBOE, IEX, FINRA, and other exchanges) to reduce unnecessary regulatory duplication. 

White Collar and Securities Litigation Partner at Dechert LLP

Before joining the NYSE, Mr. Wasserman spent more than 15 years as a white collar and securities defense attorney, most recently as a Partner at Dechert LLP’s New York Office.  There, he represented investment banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, other financial services companies, and their directors and senior executives in institution defining litigations and regulatory investigations.  Among other representations, Mr. Wasserman has:

• counseled the Board of Directors of Lehman Brothers in all of the litigations, investigations, and corporate governance matters arising out of the 2008 financial crisis;

• defended the then-CEO of the New York Stock Exchange in connection with all litigation over the exchange’s merger with Archipelago (one of the first all electronic exchanges) and its transformation into a public company; and

• served as trial counsel successfully defending a cable company chief operating officer  (in a five month criminal trial) in one of the largest securities fraud cases ever.    

Regulatory Investigations & Complex Commercial Litigation Experience

Mr. Wasserman has 25-years experience in advising clients in regulatory, compliance, and corporate governance matters – including in internal investigations and regulatory examinations and investigations (by the Securities & Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, New York Attorney General’s Office, FINRA, and global securities regulators).  At NYSE, Mr. Wasserman oversaw hundreds of equities and options investigations into such issues as:

In private practice, Mr. Wasserman represented clients in investigations and examinations relating to such issues as:

Mr. Wasserman has spent his entire career as a litigator (inside and outside the courtroom).  Beyond white collar and securities litigation, he has represented clients in nearly every kind of commercial litigation – including contract, antitrust, employment, real estate, insurance, immigration, intellectual property, defamation, governance, and other matters.

Ethics and Compliance Experience

Mr. Wasserman has significant experience working on ethics and compliance issues.  At NYSE, he crafted both NYSE Regulation’s ethics policy and market regulation procedures.  He has also regularly counseled institutions on practical ways to improve their compliance systems in a manner consistent with their business needs.  Mr. Wasserman is a Senior Fellow From Practice at the Regulatory Compliance Association – where he has spoken on a wide-variety of topics – from preventing insider trading, to avoiding conflicts of interest, to preparing for “Compliance Black Swans” – and taught a six-hour course on Securities Enforcement.  (For a list of selected speaking engagements, click here).  He has also been widely published on a variety of securities regulation issues – including in the Wall Street Lawyer, Law360 (where he was also a member of its white collar editorial advisory panel), Hedge Fund Law Report, and Investment Lawyer, among others.  (For a list of selected publications, click here).   

Focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

Mr. Wasserman was selected as one of 20 executives from around the world to participate in the Aspen Institute’s Finance Leaders Fellowship – focused on promoting public-spirited leadership in finance and society.  He has emerged as a leader on Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues – founding Finpublica, a non-profit that convenes more than 100 senior finance leaders focused on promoting sustainable development within their organizations and throughout the financial services industry more broadly. As part of these efforts, Mr. Wasserman has compiled a trove of open-source educational information and tools to help professionals get up to speed on key ESG issues in a matter of minutes. He also publishes a weekly ESG newsletter and runs a speaker series with senior leaders from government, banks, research firms, funds on a wide-variety of environmental, social, and governance topics. He also serves as the Chair of the Board for Knology – a not-or-profit organization focused on leveraging social science research to support the environment, culture, and financial inclusion.     

Pro Bono Commitment

Mr. Wasserman has been committed to pro bono throughout his career.  While at Dechert, he led the New York Office’s award-winning pro bono program – successfully transitioning it to a practice group model.  Additionally, he has:

• Won asylum for a detained Somali refugee;

• Succeeded in reforming police practices in connection with clean needle exchange programs;

• Obtained parole for a reformed inmate facing life in prison;

• Defended a mentally ill death row inmate in post conviction proceedings; and

• Advised the New York City Campaign Finance Board on its matching funds program.

EDUCATION

 Harvard Law School, J.D., 1997, cum laude, Managing Editor – Harvard Journal on Legislation

Pomona College, B.A., 1994, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

  EXPERIENCE

Managing Member, August Way Law & Consulting PLLC

 Founder & Executive Director, Finpublica

Head of Enforcement, New York Stock Exchange

White Collar and Securities Litigation Partner, Dechert LLP

Associated with Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman and Debevoise & Plimpton

Law Clerk, Judge Franklin Van Antwerpen, Eastern District of Pennsylvania 

RECOGNITION

Recognized by Legal 500 for “experienced, sage counsel”

Designated a New York Metro Super Lawyer

Named by Law360 in 2012 as one of the country’s five White Collar “Rising Stars”

Selected by the Aspen Institute as a Finance Leaders Fellow

  PUBLICATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Mr. Wasserman’s publications

 Mr. Wasserman’s speaking engagements