Colleen P. Mahoney

Colleen P. Mahoney, a partner in Skadden’s Washington, D.C. office, heads the firm’s Securities Enforcement and Compliance practice, and regularly represents corporations, their officers, directors and employees in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other law enforcement investigations. She also has represented auditors and audit firms, hedge funds, national stock exchanges and officers at these exchanges.

Ms. Mahoney assists management and boards of directors performing internal investigations, often advising clients on preventive and remedial measures before and after securities-related issues arise.

Ms. Mahoney has been the lead attorney representing many of the company boards and individuals embroiled in signature high-profile SEC investigations. Her clients have included many well-known U.S. and foreign companies. As is frequently the case with SEC enforcement matters, the biggest victories are the ones that never become public – the government investigations and inquiries that are put to rest before charges are filed or an indictment is issued, or even before a public disclosure of the government interest. Ms. Mahoney has succeeded in bringing a number of matters to a close in those circumstances.

Prior to joining Skadden, Ms. Mahoney spent 15 years in increasingly senior positions with the SEC, serving as acting general counsel of the agency and as deputy director of the division of enforcement – the second-in-command and lead administrator of the 300-plus attorney enforcement division. During her tenure at the SEC, Ms. Mahoney helped manage a civil law enforcement program that initiated more than 400 new cases a year. Those cases involved a wide range of issues, including financial fraud and disclosure, auditor independence, mutual fund sales practices, derivatives and insider trading.

Ms. Mahoney frequently lectures on securities regulatory and enforcement issues at seminars and conferences in the United States and abroad.

Ms. Mahoney has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers, Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America and The Best Lawyers in America. She was named to the short list of the nation’s top women regulatory lawyers by Chambers USA (2012). Ms. Mahoney also was selected as one of the leading corporate governance attorneys in the United States by Legal Times (2008)

Education
 J.D., American University, 1981 (summa cum laude)
 B.A., American University School of Government and Public Administration, 1978 (magna cum laude)


Bar Admissions
 District of Columbia