The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has named Dallas lawyer David Woodcock as its new director of enforcement, overseeing the agency’s federal civil corporate securities and fraud investigations and prosecutions.
Woodcock is taking a multimillion-dollar pay cut by leaving the corporate law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he has been a partner in Dallas since 2023, to return to public service. He will officially join the SEC on May 4.
Woodcock, who served as director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office during the Obama administration from 2011 to 2015, is joining the SEC at a time when the Trump administration is pushing the federal regulatory and enforcement agency to re-evaluate the kinds of cases it pursues.
“The Division of Enforcement has undergone a significant course correction, restoring Congressional intent by prioritizing cases that provide meaningful investor protection and strengthen market integrity,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement issued by the SEC. “I am incredibly pleased to have David rejoin the SEC at this critical time, as we continue to focus on the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm to investors.”
The SEC’s appointment of Woodcock to this high-ranking post received immediate praise from the Texas legal community.
“Big loss for the firm; big win for the SEC,” Gibson Dunn partner and former federal trial and appellate judge Gregg Costa told The Texas Lawbook Wednesday. “David is an outstanding lawyer with the utmost integrity. He’s the perfect person to invigorate the Enforcement Division and replenish its ranks with talented lawyers who put the public interest first.”
Woodcock, who is also an adjunct professor teaching securities, ethics and compliance at Texas A&M University School of Law, did not respond to requests for comment.
“David is an exceptional lawyer and leader with experience in so many areas that the SEC touches,” said Charles Schwab Chief Counsel Shamoil Shipchandler, who previously served as the SEC’s regional director in Texas. “David’s leadership will be essential as the enforcement division recalibrates its priorities, institutes reforms and handles the significant attrition of staff.”
Toby Galloway, a former SEC enforcement lawyer, said Woodcock is a “well-respected leader and attorney who will bring a steady hand to the Enforcement Division.”
“David has demonstrated a particular affinity for financial reporting cases involving public companies, not surprisingly given his background as a CPA,” said Galloway, who is now a partner at Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes in Fort Worth. “It will be interesting to see if he will be able to press these types of cases given the commission’s current priorities.”
A 2000 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Woodcock was the associate general counsel at Exxon Mobil for three years before joining Gibson Dunn, where profits per partner in 2025 exceeded $8 million a year. His salary at the SEC, where he will lead a team of more than 1,000 lawyers, investigators and accountants, will be about $320,000.
Holland & Knight partner Jessica Magee, a former head of SEC enforcement, agreed that Woodcock is “a great choice” for the position.
“David will need to navigate challenges posed by resource strain and staff morale, but he has the benefit of starting the job with exceptional familiarity of the enforcement program and the credibility and considerable experience he has developed both from working at the SEC in prior years and defending against SEC investigations and enforcement actions more recently,” Magee said. “David will leverage his prior SEC service, expertise in accounting, and leadership roles as an in-house and defense attorney to bring an informed perspective to the job. I think David will, as he always has, lead with authenticity and collegiality while also ensuring staff understand and are accountable to the Chairman’s vision and the importance of bringing fair and balanced cases based on admissible evidence and sound legal theory.”
Editor’s note: The second article ever posted by The Texas Lawbook was a story on David Woodcock on Oct. 24, 2011, shortly after he took over the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office: There’s a New SEC Sheriff in Town.