Catherine Botticelli

Ms. Botticelli is Co-Chair of Dechert’s Global Litigation Practice and a member of the firm’s governing Policy Committee. She represents financial services firms and corporations, as well as their boards, board committees, officers, directors and employees before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), FINRA and state regulators. Ms. Botticelli also has extensive experience conducting internal investigations for public companies and financial services firms and advising audit committees and special litigation committees. The results that she has achieved on behalf of clients have earned her recognition as a leading white-collar attorney in The Legal 500 (U.S.) since 2009. The Securities Docket named Ms. Botticelli to its “Enforcement 40 for 2017,” which is Securities Docket’s list of the 40 top securities enforcement defense attorneys in the country. In 2021, Ms. Botticelli was named by The Best Lawyers in America as “Lawyer of the Year” in Washington, DC for securities litigation. She has also been selected as a Woman Worth Watching by the Diversity Journal and, in 2024, was named as one of the 500 “Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon. Clients have told reviewers that she provides “experienced, sage counsel,” in defending governmental investigations.   

Ms. Botticelli has represented clients in many significant matters. Of particular note in the asset management area, Ms. Botticelli represented a leading asset management firm before the state attorneys general in Oregon, Maine, Illinois, Texas, New Mexico and Nebraska regarding investments made by those respective states’ 529 College Savings Plans in investment products offered by the firm. Ms. Botticelli’s work was highlighted in The American Lawyer. She represented an asset management firm in an SEC investigation involving alleged kickback arrangements in which independent contractors allegedly agreed to pay rebates to various mutual fund companies in order to win lucrative administrative contracts. Ms. Botticelli also has advised numerous asset management firms and mutual fund boards involved in SEC examinations, as well as SEC enforcement matters and internal investigations relating to market timing, revenue sharing, insider trading, “distribution in guise”, securities lending, valuation, pay-to-play, conflicts of interest, and general compliance matters. Ms. Botticelli was the lead attorney in the first case brought by the SEC under the “Pay-to-Play” rule for investment advisers, as well as the first case brought by the SEC in the “distribution in guise” investigation.

Ms. Botticelli represented Whole Foods Market, Inc. (“Whole Foods Market”) in an SEC investigation regarding online financial message board postings related to Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Markets. She has also defended i2 Technologies, Inc. in an SEC proceeding involving issues related to revenue recognition in the context of enterprise software, and the current and former officers of Waste Management Inc. and Rite Aid Corporation in securities class actions and related actions.

Given the nature of Ms. Botticelli‘s practice, however, the biggest victories are the government investigations and inquiries that are closed without any findings and charges and with no public disclosure of the pending investigation. Ms. Botticelli has succeeded in bringing many matters to a close in those circumstances. 

Ms. Botticelli was a member of President Clinton’s transition team after the 1992 election and was involved with vetting potential cabinet members. In addition, she participated in vetting candidates for judgeships.

Ms. Botticelli is a frequent speaker and author on enforcement matters and initiatives affecting public companies and financial services firms. She is also a contributor to Mutual Fund Litigation and Insurance Guide (LexisNexis, 2013), a book that examines the legal risks faced by the mutual fund industry, the legal bases for potential liability of mutual fund industry participants, the key precedents from important regulatory enforcement actions and civil litigation against the industry, and the critical insurance products and approaches that are available to mitigate these risks.