Elizabeth Lan Davis

Elizabeth Lan Davis, Chair and Shareholder at McGonigle, P.C., was named Regulatory Enforcement Defense Lawyer of the Year in Washington DC, US at the 2024 Corporate INTL Global Awards. A financial services litigator based in the nation's capital, she draws on nearly two decades of federal government experience to defend individuals and institutions in the most demanding regulatory investigations and enforcement matters.

McGonigle, P.C. is one of the United States' preeminent financial services boutiques, and Davis was a founding member of the firm's Commodities, Futures & Derivatives practice group before being elected to lead the firm. Her clients include financial institutions, proprietary trading firms, futures commission merchants, fintech companies, digital asset exchanges, commodity pools, commodity trading advisors, and agricultural and energy firms. She represents both corporate and individual clients across financial services examinations, regulatory investigations and proceedings, and white-collar matters.

Davis's authority in this field is grounded in extensive public service. She served for nine years at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, latterly as a chief trial attorney in the Division of Enforcement, where she led civil regulatory enforcement investigations across a wide range of matters, including fraud and manipulation, virtual currencies and initial coin offerings, credit default swap indices, undercapitalisation and swaps reporting. Before joining the CFTC she was counsel to the deputy assistant attorney general for civil matters in the Tax Division of the US Department of Justice, and a trial attorney in that division's civil trial section.

That combination of experience at the CFTC and the Department of Justice gives Davis a rare command of how regulators build and pursue cases. She is well placed to advocate before the CFTC, the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Futures Association and exchanges such as CME and ICE. For clients facing scrutiny from these bodies, an adviser who has sat on the government side of the table offers a significant strategic advantage in anticipating regulatory concerns and shaping an effective defence.

Regulatory enforcement defence is among the highest-stakes areas of financial services practice. It calls for a lawyer able to manage parallel investigations, negotiate with enforcement staff, and, where necessary, litigate, all while protecting a client's reputation and business. The rapid evolution of markets, particularly in derivatives and digital assets, has made deep subject-matter knowledge essential, an area in which Davis's enforcement background is directly relevant.

In 2022 Davis Wright Tremaine combined with McGonigle, P.C., significantly expanding its banking and financial services capability, and Davis has continued to be recognised among the leading practitioners in her field, including by Chambers. The Regulatory Enforcement Defense Lawyer of the Year in Washington DC, US award reflects her standing as a defender of clients in financial services enforcement and the depth of federal experience she brings to that work.