Merri Jo Gillette is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and leader of the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice. Ms. Gillette's practice focuses on representing financial institutions, public companies, and their officers and directors in regulatory examinations, investigations, enforcement actions, and other proceedings before U.S. and foreign regulators, with emphasis on representing clients in high-stakes Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations across the country. She also counsels boards of directors, corporations, and financial institutions on internal investigations, risk and crisis management, the development of effective compliance programs, and corporate governance issues.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Gillette spent more than 27 years at the SEC, where she won national awards for her leadership in securities law enforcement and was a champion for advancing inclusion and diversity issues within the workplace. Most recently, from 2004 to 2013, she served as Director of the SEC's Chicago regional office. In that role, she managed a staff of 250 lawyers, accountants, and other professionals and was responsible for overseeing the SEC's enforcement and examination programs in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Under her leadership, the Chicago office brought numerous high-profile enforcement cases, many involving extensive coordination with other regulators and criminal authorities.