Daniel M. Gallagher, Jr. (born May 31, 1972) is an American lawyer who served as a Commissioner of the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC) from 2011 to 2015. Gallagher was appointed to the SEC by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. He also previously served as the deputy director and co-acting director of the Division of Trading and Markets.

Education

Gallagher graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and went on to receive a Juris Doctor, ''magna cum laude'', from the

Columbus School of Law The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the ...

at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in 1998, where he was also a member of the law school's law review.

Professional career

Gallagher began his career in the private sector when he joined Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (later WilmerHale) as an associate in the firm's Securities Department. His next position took him to

Fiserv Fiserv, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational financial technology company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fiserv provides financial technology and services to clients across the financial services sector, incl ...

Securities Inc. to serve as the company's senior vice president and general counsel. In 2006, Gallagher transitioned to the government sector and joined the SEC as counsel to former SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins and later as counsel to former Chairman

Christopher Cox Charles Christopher Cox (born October 16, 1952) is an American attorney and politician who served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a 17-year Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House ...

, working on matters involving the Division of Enforcement and the Division of Trading and Markets. In 2008, he became the deputy director of the Division of Trading and Markets and served as Division co-acting director from April 2009 through January 2010. Gallagher was appointed by Barack Obama and served as an SEC Commissioner from November 2011 to October 2015 After his time with the SEC, Gallagher returned to the private sector and in 2016 became president of Patomak Global Partners, a financial services consulting firm. He changed jobs in 2017 and joined global pharmaceutical company Mylan N.V. as the chief legal officer. Gallagher rejoined

WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as WilmerHale, is an American multinational law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Co-headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Boston, it was formed in 2004 through the m ...

in September 2019 where he served as deputy chair of the firm's Securities Department. His practice focused on advising corporate boards and management on the full range of legal and strategic issues they faced, and counseling financial services and accounting firms in investigations, regulatory proceedings and policy matters. In May 2020, Robinhood announced that Gallagher would be joining the company as Chief Legal Officer.

Professional affiliations

Gallagher serves on the board of the

National Association of Corporate Directors The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is an independent, not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) founded in 1977 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. NACD's membership includes more than 1,750 corporate boards as well as several ...

(NACD), a leading membership organization for corporate board directors, and previously served on Robinhood's Board of Directors before joining the company as its Chief Legal Officer. He was formerly a non-executive director of the Irish Stock Exchange. He is also on the advisory boards for the Institute for Law and Economics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and the Center for Corporate Governance, part of the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute in

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

's LeBow College of Business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Daniel M. 1972 births Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partners Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni Columbus School of Law alumni Living people Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Obama administration personnel