David M. Becker

David M. Becker is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, based in the Washington, D.C. office.

Mr. Becker practices in the areas of securities regulation, corporate governance, securities enforcement, and internal investigations. He represents companies, boards of directors and senior officers in the United States and abroad on matters involving regulatory issues and potential liabilities under the United States securities laws.

Mr. Becker rejoined Cleary Gottlieb in 2011 after two years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as its General Counsel and Senior Policy Director. While at the Commission, Mr. Becker served as the senior lawyer for the Commission and advised the Commission on the full range of its actions, from both legal and policy perspectives. Mr. Becker was intimately involved both within and behalf of the Commission in the accomplishment of financial regulatory reform. Most recently he served a central role in the Commission's efforts to implement the Dodd-Frank Act.

Before returning to the SEC in 2009, Mr. Becker had been a partner in the firm's Washington office. He represented major corporations and individuals in investigations before the Securities and Exchange Commission. He conducted internal investigations on before of audit committees. And he advised companies and their boards of directors on the full range of corporate governance issues.

Mr. Becker first came to the firm from the U.S. Securities and Commission in 2002, where he served as General Counsel from 2000 to 2002. Before then, he had a long career in private practice as a securities lawyer.

Mr. Becker is distinguished as one of the leading lawyers in financial services regulation and securities regulation by Chambers USA. He has received similar recognition from Best Lawyers in America, The Legal Times of Washington, and Washingtonian magazine.

Mr. Becker received a J.D. degree from Columbia University Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review, in 1973, and an undergraduate degree from Columbia College in 1968. Following graduation, Mr. Becker served as law clerk to the Honorable Harold Leventhal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and a year later for the Honorable Stanley Reed (retired) of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Becker is a member of the Bars in the District of Columbia and New York.