Wilson Sonsini Adds Former SEC Official Tamara Brightwell to Public Company Practice

Brightwell Has Nearly 20 Years of Experience at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Brightwell Was Most Recently the SEC’s Disclosure Review Program Director in the Division of Corporation Finance

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Tamara Brightwell has joined the firm as a corporate partner in Washington, D.C., where she will be a member of the Public Company Representation practice. The move reflects Wilson Sonsini’s continuing efforts to offer expansive resources and advice concerning securities law and Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory matters to its more than 300 public company clients, as well as late-stage pre-IPO companies.

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Tamara Brightwell, Partner, Wilson Sonsini (Photo: Business Wire)

Brightwell joins the firm after almost two decades at the SEC. She most recently served as the Disclosure Review Program Director in the Division of Corporation Finance where she oversaw the program’s work of reviewing transactional filings and periodic reports made under the federal securities laws. In this role, she was responsible for providing legal and policy guidance to the program and overseeing five industry offices – Energy & Transportation, Industrial Applications & Services, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, and Trade & Services. While in this position, she developed policies and procedures relating to emerging issues and trends, such as the surge in IPOs in 2020 and 2021, the rise of SPACs and de-SPACs, and market volatility.

Prior to that role, she was Deputy Chief Counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance Office of Chief Counsel, where she led staff in providing interpretive guidance on public company disclosure requirements and securities offering rules. She also served as Senior Advisor to the Corporation Finance Director and for four years as Senior Adviser to Mary Jo White, chair of the SEC. Brightwell joined the SEC as an Attorney-Adviser in the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program.

“Tamara brings to our firm an important perspective that will serve as a vital resource to our clients based on her distinguished career at the SEC,” said Allison Spinner, head of the Corporate Department at Wilson Sonsini. “Our substantial and growing public company client base requires dedicated and specific resources from a wide range of perspectives. Tamara’s facility with the very complex and extensive current SEC rulemaking agenda is of substantial benefit to our client base, and her expertise is of great value to our integrated, national public company representation practice.”

Wilson Sonsini has more than 300 public company clients and a sterling reputation as an advisor to corporations, boards of directors, and board committees. The firm’s attorneys advise on core corporate and securities law matters, including reporting and disclosure requirements (SEC, NYSE, and NASDAQ), audit and compensation committee matters, and compliance with corporate governance statutes, including Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and Delaware General Corporate Law. The firm also represents public companies in regulatory and litigation matters, as well as internal and board investigations.

“Serving at the SEC was a tremendous honor and privilege,” said Brightwell. “Joining Wilson Sonsini’s talented team enables me to provide my knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the firm’s impressive roster of public company clients, as well as those preparing to go public. Wilson Sonsini’s comprehensive corporate practice and established capital markets team make it a destination firm for many leading public companies, and I am delighted to join the firm.”

Brightwell earned her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and a B.S. in financial management from Clemson University.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 60 years, Wilson Sonsini’s services and legal disciplines have focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leading provider to growing and established clients seeking legal counsel to complete sophisticated corporate and technology transactions; manage governance and enterprise-scale matters; assist with intellectual property development, protection, and IP-driven transactions; represent them in contested disputes; and/or advise them on antitrust or other regulatory matters. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini has 19 offices in technology and business hubs worldwide. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

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