Paul M. G. Helms

Practice Areas

A former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement attorney and counsel to the Director of Enforcement, and the head of McDermott’s SEC Enforcement Defense Group, Paul Helms defends clients facing high-stakes SEC investigations, complex internal investigations, and securities litigation nationwide. He regularly counsels public companies, investment advisers and international accounting firms, as well as their executives and directors. He understands the business and personal challenges that come with any SEC or government investigation and has secured positive outcomes for multiple clients confronting those risks.

Through his work in private practice and at the SEC, Paul has managed every type of SEC investigation, including accounting fraud, disclosures and internal controls, offering fraud, investment adviser and broker-dealer regulatory compliance, insider trading, market manipulation, public finance, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and auditor and attorney negligence. His national practice involves cases in Washington, DC, Chicago and every SEC regional office. Paul also conducts complex internal investigations and has participated in several of the most notable investigations in the Midwest and the country. In addition, Paul has obtained dismissals or favorable settlements for clients facing parallel shareholder derivative litigation and securities class actions.

Paul dedicates time to pro bono matters through his work as the external General Counsel of Episcopal Charities, the charitable arm of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. He has also led internal investigations on behalf of nonprofit organizations confronting fraud and compliance concerns.

Paul began his career clerking for the Honorable James H. Michael Jr. in the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia. While in law school, Paul served as Editor-in-Chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

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