15 Sep 2026
Nixon Peabody appoints Kara Stein as partner in Government Investigations & White‑Collar Defense
"Nixon Peabody hires Kara Stein as partner in its Government Investigations & White‑Collar Defense practice; she will advise on securities regulation, disclosure, regulatory compliance, investigations and crisis management."
At Nixon Peabody, Stein will advise executives and boards of public and private companies, audit firms, broker‑dealers, banks, insurers, and investment funds on disclosure, deal risk, regulatory compliance and other complex regulatory, litigation, and crisis‑management matters. She will also assist clients with testimony, incident response, investigations and internal reviews to assess False Claims Act claims and related operational, billing, compliance, or reputational implications.
Stein brings three decades of experience in government, private practice, and industry leadership. She previously served as a US Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner and as a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Her background includes substantial congressional experience, including service as staff director of the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Her legal practice focuses on matters involving the SEC, the PCAOB, the US Senate and House of Representatives, and other financial services regulators.
Stein also has international regulatory experience, having participated in multiple meetings of the International Organization of Securities Commissions on behalf of the SEC and serving as chair of the Global Audit Quality Working Group of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators. In addition to her regulatory and government roles, she has held academic and research positions, including distinguished policy fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, senior research fellow and director of the AI & Capital Markets Initiative at the University of California College of the Law, and law lecturer at Harvard Law School. She earned her BA, cum laude, from Yale College and her JD from Yale Law School.