Christian R. Bartholomew

Partner

Christian Bartholomew is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Morgan Lewis and is the leader of the Washington Litigation Practice Group; he also maintains an office in Miami, Florida. Mr. Bartholomew focuses exclusively on representing financial institution and public company clients in securities litigation and enforcement matters. He represents clients in investigations conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and other federal and state regulators, and is currently handling several subprime-related investigations for Fortune 100 clients. Mr. Bartholomew also represents clients in connection with numerous private securities litigation matters, and has recently secured victories in matters for major financial services and accounting clients at both the trial and appellate level. Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Bartholomew served for five years as the Senior Trial Counsel for the Southeast Regional Office of the SEC, where he prosecuted numerous precedent-setting cases.

Current matters include the following:

• Representation of Fortune 50 financial institution in connection with state and federal investigations arising out of subprime crisis;
• Representation of Fortune 50 financial institution in federal securities fraud class action;
• Representation of national accounting firm in federal securities fraud action;
• Representation of public companies and/or senior officers and directors in DOJ, SEC, or state securities investigations;
• Representation of public companies and/or senior officers and directors in private securities litigation;
• Representation of broker-dealers, investment advisors and other financial institutions in DOJ, SEC, FINRA, and state investigations;
• Representation of broker-dealers, investment advisors and other financial institutions in private securities litigation;
• Representation of national insurance companies in connection with regulatory inquiries and investigations; and
• Acting as federal Receiver in two SEC enforcement actions (nominated by SEC and appointed by federal court).

As Senior Trial Counsel at the SEC, Mr. Bartholomew litigated and tried numerous precedent-setting cases, including the SEC's first "earnings management" case against W.R. Grace; first case to result in the revocation of a broker-dealer's registration based on a failure to supervise charge; first case under MSRB Rule G-17 to charge a municipal bond dealer with unfair dealings; first case involving sales of so-called "viatical settlements"; and first federal court case involving a broker-dealer's refusal to turn over records to SEC examiners.

Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Bartholomew was a litigator at a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm, where he specialized in complex commercial litigation.

Mr. Bartholomew is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Florida.