Adrienne M. Ward

Highly accomplished litigator Adrienne Ward crafts winning risk management strategies tailored to each client company’s and individual’s business needs in complex securities litigation and regulatory matters.

Adrienne’s expansive securities and regulatory law knowledge, financial industry acumen, credibility with regulators, sound judgment, and problem-solving skills help clients address a variety of challenges. Collaborative, practical, and cost-conscious, Adrienne distills complex information and issues into clear, precise strategies for clients and cogent arguments before regulators and in courts, often within extremely expedited timeframes.

Public and private companies and financial institutions, including broker-dealers, investment advisers, private funds, and equity crowdfunding platforms, and their employees depend on Adrienne in their civil litigation, SEC, state, SRO and internal investigations, and regulatory enforcement matters. Her litigation practice includes extensive experience in securities class actions, derivative claims, activist investor matters, and business and partnership disputes in state and federal court and arbitration proceedings. She also represents business entities in corporate governance matters, white-collar defense, and general commercial litigation cases.

In her regulatory work, Adrienne guides clients in developing and enhancing compliance policies and procedures that address critical business issues and support them through exams and investigations. She has represented clients before the SEC, FINRA, the New York Attorney General, and other securities regulators in investigations and disciplinary proceedings. She has successfully defended clients in industry-wide sweeps, including regarding market timing and research analyst rules, equity trading practices, supervision of sales practices, anti-money laundering, and registration, accounting, and reporting requirements.

Adrienne chairs Olshan’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Before joining the firm, she was a litigation partner and securities litigation partner for over 16 years at two major law firms.