Amy Jane Longo
Partner
Amy Jane Longo is a partner in Ropes & Gray’s litigation and enforcement practice group, where she focuses on SEC enforcement matters and the defense of securities and other class action cases. Amy has more than 25 years of experience in securities litigation, with significant first-chair experience both as a defense counsel and as a senior SEC enforcement attorney. Amy has extensive experience in the financial services and healthcare/life sciences industries, both in the public and the private sector, as well as in the defense of ERISA and other complex class action cases.
Amy was previously Regional Trial Counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Los Angeles Regional Office in the Division of Enforcement. She oversaw all litigation brought by the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office—from pre-filing through trial or resolution—in federal district court and SEC administrative proceedings. While at the SEC, Amy supervised cases involving offering frauds, financial reporting and disclosures, accounting, cryptocurrency, insider trading, market manipulation, securities registration, broker dealers, investment advisers, investment companies, and FCPA. In addition to running the trial unit, she also served as lead trial counsel on securities enforcement matters as well as advising on many matters that led to negotiated resolutions. Amy litigated numerous cases involving digital assets while at the SEC and now advises clients on regulatory enforcement issues related to cryptocurrency.
Prior to joining the SEC in 2013, Amy was a litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of a major international law firm, where she practiced for fifteen years with a focus on securities and derivative suits, internal and government investigations, financial services and ERISA litigation, and federal and state class actions.
Experience
Government Experience
- Prevailed in four-day bench trial against investment adviser and its principals.*
- Obtained terminating sanctions against promoter in one of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office’s first ICO cases.*
- First-chaired administrative proceedings against investment advisers, and against a public company and its executives; obtained favorable settlements on the eve of trial.*
- Won summary judgments in cases against architect of microcap shell factory; principals of insurance-related offering fraud; and investment adviser conducting Ponzi scheme; among others.*
- Procured default sanction against insider trading defendant.*
- Secured emergency injunctive relief in numerous offering frauds and advisory frauds, as well as insider trading cases.*
- Prosecuted the SEC’s first action against binary options provider, obtaining over $10 million in disgorgement and penalties through settlement with foreign nationals.*
- Litigated SEC action against chief executive officer of medical aesthetics public company alleged to have concealed damaging news about products’ regulatory compliance; also obtained settled cease and desist order from the issuer.*
- Pursued fraud claims against manufacturer of COVID-19 tests and equipment for misrepresenting status of FDA applications.*
- Prosecuted SEC offering fraud case against medical device issuer and its officers, directors and employees involving allegations of misappropriation and concealment.*
- In settled SEC matter, obtained administrative and financial remedies against major pharmaceutical public company and senior officers, for charges of improper revenue recognition and misleading disclosures about mail order pharmacy business.*
Private Practice
- Represented dozens of public companies and executives in securities class action lawsuits from inception through pretrial phase, obtaining favorable settlements before trial.*
- Tried three federal jury cases to verdict.*
- Led internal investigations in response to government inquiries and whistleblower claims.*
- Defended consumer health care public company and its senior officers in securities class action arising from allegations of undisclosed products liability claims.*
- Defended biopharmaceutical public company in securities class action arising from alleged failure to disclose adverse FDA action with respect to company’s cancer drug.*
- Defended major hospital and home health provider in shareholder derivative action arising from allegedly fraudulent Medicaid billing, reporting, and referral practices.*
*Experience prior to joining Ropes & Gray
Publications
- Quoted, “’Need to Act’: Brokers Prep for SEC Action on Best Interest Rule,” Bloomberg Law (May 3, 2023)
- Quoted, “SEC’s Shadow Crypto Rule Taking Shape as Enforcement Cases Mount,” CoinDesk and Yahoo Finance (February 21, 2023)
- Noted, “11th Circ. Urged to Keep Fla. Bias Training Law on Ice,” Law360 (January 12, 2023)
- Quoted, “Inside Track: Companies Face More Lawsuit Risks from Climate Claims,” Law.com (January 12, 2023)
- Co-author, “SEC Remedies Litigation,” Practical Law Journal (January 12, 2023)
- Quoted, “Barrage of New Laws, Regulations Coming in 2023,” Law.com (January 11, 2023)
- Quoted, “There Are Headaches Galore: 3 Risk Areas That Will Reign in 2023,” Law.com (January 11, 2023)
- Quoted, “Crypto Crackdown Will Help Shape 2023 Securities Law Storylines,” Bloomberg Law (December 29, 2022)
- Co-author, “Why Crypto Developers Must Beware of Legitimacy Scrutiny,” Law360 (December 21, 2022)
- Co-author, “SEC v. LBRY: Examining the implications of the SEC's latest victory for cryptocurrency and digital asset markets,” WestLaw Today (December 19, 2022)
- Co-author, “Benefits & Risks of Decentralized Dispute Resolution,” Bloomberg Law (December 19, 2022)
- Quoted, “FTX Collapse Puts Auditors in Crosshairs of Client,’s Regulators,” Bloomberg Tax (November 30, 2022)
- Quoted, “PCAOB Floats Auditor Quality Control Reforms,” Ignites (November 29, 2022)
- Quoted, “Exploring the ESG Landscape: A Roundtable Discussion,” Los Angeles Times (November 13, 2022)
- Quoted, “Questions Loom Over Who’s Covered in New SEC Rule,” Ignites (November 4, 2022)
- Quoted, “SEC Floats Stricter Oversight of Industry Outsourcing,” FundFire (October 27, 2022)
- Quoted, “SEC Enforcement Remedies Under Microscope Amid Aggressive Push,” Bloomberg Law (September 29, 2022)
- Quoted, ‘Our Rules Have to Evolve’: The Crypto Industry is Trapped in Regulatory Purgatory, Fortune (September 19, 2022)
- Quoted, “SEC Disgorgement Win Bolsters Ability to Recoup Ill-Gotten Gains,” Bloomberg Law (August 17, 2022)
- Co-author, “Federal court orders new trial to consider whether cryptocurrency constitutes a 'security,'” Westlaw Today (July 18, 2022)
- Co-author, “In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360,” Law360 (June 24, 2022)
- Co-author, “2 Years Since Liu, Disgorgement Case Law Is Favoring SEC,” Law360 (June 21, 2022)
- Co-author, “The SEC’s Shot Across the Bow on ‘Greenwashing’ in ESG Funds,” New York Law Journal (June 15, 2022)
- Quoted, “Crypto Crash to Bring Uptick in Tech, Commodities Litigation,” The Daily Journal (May 16, 2022)
- Mentioned, “On the Move: Tracking the Ins and Outs of California Lawyers,” Law360 (March 31, 2022)
- Quoted, “Enforcement Aimed at the Tech Sector is Driving Lateral Movement in Droves,” The Recorder (March 24, 2022)
- Profiled, “Head of SEC Trial Unit in Los Angeles Moves to Ropes & Gray,” Daily Journal (March 22, 2022)
- Profiled, “Ropes & Gray Taps SEC Trial Atty for New LA Office,” Law360 (March 22, 2022)
- Co-author, “Electronic Discovery Practice Under the Federal Rules,” BNA, 4th ed. (2013)
- Author, “Efforts underway to update rules for discovery of electronically stored information,” Los Angeles Daily Journal (February 5, 2013)
- “Second Chairs are Coaches, not Bench Warmers,” LITIGATION Magazine (Vol. 39, No. 2, Spring 2013)
- “Federal Rule of Evidence 502-Lessons from the Second Year,” Committee on Pretrial Practice and Discovery - American Bar Association (Winter/Spring 2011)
- “California Enacts Electronic Discovery Rules: New Electronic Discovery Act Brings State Practice in Line With Federal Law,” BNA's Digital Discovery & E-Evidence Report (Aug. 2009)
Presentations
- Panelist, “Insider Trading 360°,” Securities Enforcement Forum West 2023 (May 23, 2023)
- Speaker, “Off Channel Communications – Compliance Issues,” Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Electronic Communications & Records Forum (April 24, 2023)
- Panelist, “Off Platform Communications: Strategies and Solutions,” Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Annual Compliance & Legal Seminar (March 13, 2023)
- Speaker, “The Role of Forensic Accountants in SEC Enforcement Matters,” California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA) Meeting (February 24, 2023)
- Moderator, “Ethical Issues Arising in Internal & Government Investigations,” Government Investigations & Civil Litigation Institute (GICLI) Annual Meeting (November 7, 2022)
- Panelist, “Litigating Enforcement Actions,” Los Angeles County Bar Association Securities Regulation Seminar (October 21, 2022)
- Panelist, “Board Investigations: A Deep Dive,” National Association of Corporate Directors Summit (October 9, 2022)
- Moderator, “SEC Exam and Enforcement Updates,” Ropes & Gray Private Funds Regulatory Update Series (October 3, 2022)
- Panelist, “Insider Trading 360° – Enforcement Trends and Key Cases, Prosecutions, and Legislation,” Securities Enforcement Forum West (May 12, 2022)
- Panelist, “A Modern Approach to Managing Risk: Outcomes Over Output and People Over Policies – How to Asses and Use Culture,” R&G Insights Lab Event (April 25, 2022)
- Speaker, “Emerging Enforcement Trends in Digital Assets,” Women’s White Collar Defense Association Luncheon (April 2021)
- Panelist, “The Regulators,” The Government Investigations & Civil Litigation Institute Annual Meeting (2020, 2021)
- Panelist, “The Ethical Receiver: Balancing the Demands as a Neutral Party,” National Association of Federal Equity Receivers Annual Conference (2021)
- Panelist, “Enhancing Receivership Recovery,” National Association of Federal Equity Receivers Annual Conference (2020)
- Panelist, “Get the Dirt on Real Estate Receiverships,” National Association of Federal Equity Receivers Annual Conference (2019)
- Speaker, Los Angeles County Bar Association Annual Securities Regulation Seminar (2019)
- Panelist, Litigating Securities Fraud Cases Against the SEC and DOJ, Securities Enforcement Forum West (2018)
- Panelist, “A Judge, a Regulator, and Two Receivers: Eavesdrop on a Conversation about How to Best Administer a Federal Equity Receivership,” National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (2018)
- Panelist, “Running a Cost-Effective Receivership,” National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (2017)
- Speaker, “Fundamentals of E-Discovery,” Los Angeles County Bar Association (2012)
- Speaker, “E-Discovery Perils and Pitfalls,” Association of Business Trial Lawyers’ 37th Annual Seminar (2010)
- Keynote Speaker, “Breaking the Code: How Changing Technology Impacts Courts’ Approaches to Electronic Discovery Disputes,” Women in E-Discovery (2009)
Education
- JD, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Columbia Law School, 1996; Administrative Editor, Columbia Human Rights Law Review
- BA, magna cum laude, Columbia College, 1993
Admissions / Qualifications
Qualifications
- California
- New York
Court Admissions
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Awards
- Two-time recipient of the Director’s Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the SEC Division of Enforcement (2018, 2016)
- Super Lawyers – Southern California Super Lawyer (2013); Rising Star (2011; 2005-2008)
- Legal 500 (2010, 2009)