Russ Ryan is a nationally recognized attorney and thought leader with particular interest in the regulatory and enforcement apparatus of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other quasi-governmental regulators overseen by the SEC, including the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the various securities industry self-regulatory organizations (SROs). He has decades of experience defending private citizens and businesses caught in the crosshairs of these and other financial regulators.

Russ joined NCLA from the law firm King & Spalding, where he was a partner for 15 years. He left the firm from 2015 to 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief of Enforcement at FINRA. Earlier in his career he served for two years as law clerk to a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York and for 10 years as a staff attorney and Assistant Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. He also taught for several semesters as an adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.

Russ is a prolific speaker and writer on financial regulation and enforcement. He has spoken at dozens of professional conferences and published scores of commentaries and academic articles, including numerous op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Law360, and elsewhere. His regular column on LinkedIn is called “On SECond Thought: Unconventional Perspectives on Securities Enforcement.”

Russ earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was an executive editor of the law review.