Experience

Missouri State Employees' Retirement System

• United States
• Government Administration
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Investment Legal and Compliance Counsel

  • Jan 2017 - Present

  As MOSERS’s investment legal and compliance counsel, I am primarily responsible for overseeing the system’s hiring and ongoing due diligence of its institutional investment managers. As such, I conduct investment, legal, and qualitative due diligence into a broad range of alternative investment classes, including hedge funds, private equity, and real estate. The due diligence I conduct includes a full examination of a manager and its offering. This entails a conventional analysis of the rights and duties contained within the operative documents. As necessary, I examine portfolio investments as well. I then report that analysis to stakeholders, summarizing the legal risks and highlighting possible scenarios. My review goes beyond a mere legal analysis of the manager's offering. Using research, databases, and open-source techniques, I identify other risks (such as headline or policy risk) and verify and cross-check claims where possible. Further, my review also examines whether the managers’ policies are sufficient to comply with statutes designed to prevent money laundering and terrorist funding, such as the USA PATRIOT Act. I also monitor for compliance with applicable sanctions laws, for instance, the various lists promulgated by U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Additionally, I advise on legal developments affecting the investment managers, such as statutory or regulatory changes. I also monitor and report on legal trends or geopolitical events that may affect the system’s investments. Show less



State of Missouri

• United States
• Government Administration
• 700 & Above Employee

• General Counsel

  • Aug 2015 - Dec 2016

  As general counsel for the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office, I was the office’s primary attorney and advised the Treasurer on different aspects of both state and federal law. This responsibility included advising the Treasurer’s executive staff as well as the directors of the Investments, Banking, and Unclaimed Property Divisions. In my role, I was solely responsible for all aspects of the office’s legal work. As general counsel for the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office, I was the office’s primary attorney and advised the Treasurer on different aspects of both state and federal law. This responsibility included advising the Treasurer’s executive staff as well as the directors of the Investments, Banking, and Unclaimed Property Divisions. In my role, I was solely responsible for all aspects of the office’s legal work.



Missouri Secretary Of State

• United States
• Government Relations Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chief Counsel & Director of Registrations

  • Jan 2007 - Jul 2015

  As chief counsel, I advised the Missouri commissioner of securities on federal and state policy and law. This roles involved analyzing and briefing the commissioner as to all aspects of securities regulation. This responsibility only expanded over my time with the Division, to include State officials as well as, through legal presentations across the state, other practicing securities attorneys. As the director of registrations, I analyzed and oversaw the registration of complex securities transactions in the State of Missouri, from SEC-coordinated registrations to merit examinations of intrastate offerings. I also reviewed and advised Securities Division staff on public and private investment adviser agreements, both private and public, for compliance with federal and state securities lawsAs noted below, I was also a working member of the North American Securities Administrators Association. From 2007 to 2008, I was the chair of the Corporate Finance Policy Project group, overseeing the policies that States apply to the review of corporate offerings. Before that, I was a member of that group from 2005 to 2007. I was also a member of NASAA’s Dodd-Frank Working Group, gathering information and coordinating responses from the various states on that legislative act. During my time with NASAA, I presented at the association's yearly conferences on corporate finance topics. Also as explained below, my experience and expertise in securities laws were increasingly required in both civil and criminal courts. As chief counsel, I served as a specially-appointed assistant prosecuting attorney in criminal fraud securities cases in different Missouri counties. My securities law expertise led me to be appointed as a specially-appointed assistant attorney general, successfully representing the commissioner of securities in civil cases. Show less

• Deputy Chief Counsel

  • Jan 2005 - Dec 2006

  With the promotion to deputy chief counsel, my responsibilities extended past corporate finance in Missouri and extended to enforcement and policy matters. Specifically, as deputy chief counsel, I began my tenure as counsel to the commissioner of securities for the State of Missouri. This included advising the commissioner in his capacity as a hearing officer on enforcement cases, but also counseling the commissioner on nationwide securities law and policy and its ramifications for his office and Missouri. Part of this responsibility entailed drafting and proposing securities statutes and regulations that became part of this state's securities laws regulating the investment industry in the State of Missouri. My role as an adviser continued beyond the offices of the commissioner as I was asked to advise legislators and other policymakers on federal and state securities laws. Also during this time, I continued to maintain my own enforcement caseload, administratively prosecuting violations of the Missouri Securities Act of 2003. Additionally, I began receiving appointments as a special assistant prosecuting attorney in different counties in Missouri, criminally prosecuting securities fraud in the courts. Moreover, my experience with corporate finance deepened: I continued to examine public securities offerings in Missouri. This expertise led to my involvement with the North American Securities Administrators Association, being appointed to the Corporate Finance Policy Project Group. Show less

• Securities Counsel

  • Jan 2004 - Dec 2004

  My primary duty as securities counsel for the Securities Division was to examine public companies registering their securities at the state and federal level. This responsibility included reviewing such offerings for compliance with the securities laws, both in terms of merit and disclosure. It also required closely examining the financial statements and accounting of many different sorts of businesses, from multimillion dollar real estate investment trusts, to corporations, to limited liability companies. Additionally, I worked closely with the issuer's counsel to structure the offerings to comply with both federal and state securities law, providing guidance where necessary and coming up with creative solutions that met the issuer's needs while still ensuring investor protection . Besides examining offerings, I provided counsel to the commissioner of securities as well as the Division's investigators and auditors. Show less



Missouri Attorney General's Office

• Assistant Attorney General

  • Aug 2002 - Dec 2003

  As an assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division, I represented the State in criminal defendants’ appeals from convictions as well as guilty pleas. During my tenure with the attorney general’s office, I argued before all the State’s appellate courts. As an assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division, I represented the State in criminal defendants’ appeals from convictions as well as guilty pleas. During my tenure with the attorney general’s office, I argued before all the State’s appellate courts.