Abstract
We examine the career paths of attorneys in the Enforcement Division at the SEC. Using a variety of performance metrics, we find evidence that long term lawyers and lawyers in regional offices do not perform as well as other SEC attorneys. We also report that men and women may differ in their career paths in this field. We find that early-stage female attorneys perform just as well as male attorneys. Notwithstanding their comparable performance, these early-stage women are less likely to get a raise or promotion. We find that women are more likely to stay at the SEC, at least at earlier points in their careers. We also find evidence that attorneys who perform well at the SEC are more likely to leave the agency, and that their destination is more likely to be a partnership at a law firm, contradicting the “revolving door” hypothesis.
Disciplines
Law | Securities Law
Date of this Version
1-3-2017
Working Paper Citation
Pritchard, Adam C. and Choi, Stephen J., "SEC Enforcement Attorneys: Should I Stay of Should I Go?" (2017). Law & Economics Working Papers. 127.
https://repository.law.umich.edu/law_econ_current/127