Weil Gotshal hires judge and academic for securities group

Weil Gotshal & Manges has lured a top judge and law professor to boost its securities practice in the US.

Stanley Sporkin, who recently retired as a US district court judge for the district of Columbia, joined the Washington office as a partner last week to head its securities & exchange commission (SEC) practice.

Sporkin joined the SEC in 1961 where he was director of enforcement for much of the 1970s before becoming general counsel at the CIA. He was appointed a US district court judge by president Reagan in 1985.

Professor Harvey Goldschmid will join Weil Gotshal's New York office as counsel in June. He has been Dwight professor of law at Columbia University since 1984 and is former general counsel to the SEC.

Weil Gotshal executive partner Stephen Dannhauser says: "Judge Sporkin and Professor Goldschmid will be important additions to the firm's overall practice, particularly our securities litigation and counselling practice."