O’Melveny Partner Leviss Joins SEC as Associate General Counsel

Longtime O’Melveny & Myers partner David Leviss is heading to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as its new associate general counsel.

Leviss later this month will start the position at the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel, where he’ll focus on investigations and external oversight inquiries, he said in a post Friday on LinkedIn.

Leviss joined O’Melveny in 2011 and focused on defending corporations and individuals from qui tam actions under the False Claims Act. He is considered an authority on the statute.

He joins SEC at a time of increased False Claims Act enforcement. Last year, the Justice Department obtained more than $5.6 billion in judgments and settlements involving fraud and false claims against the government, the second largest annual total in the statute’s history and the largest amount since 2014.

O’Melveny confirmed Leviss’ departure and new SEC title.

“Public service has long been a key component of O’Melveny’s DNA,” O’Melveny said in a statement. “We thank Dave for his excellent work and wish him the very best in his new role.”

Leviss did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I am grateful to my partners and colleagues for making O’Melveny a great place to work and for their support as I begin another chapter in public service,” he said in his LinkedIn post.

Leviss spent over six years as a trial attorney at the Justice Department’s civil division, where he investigated and litigated an array of civil fraud matters in federal courts, including whistleblower qui tam actions.

Prior to joining O’Melveny in 2011, he served as chief counsel of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he was responsible for all oversight of federal agencies and the private sector concerning programs and industries within the committee’s jurisdiction.

He directed high-profile congressional investigations, including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Former WilmerHale partner Dan Berkovitz leads the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel.

Berkovitz took over as general counsel of the SEC in November. Prior to joining the SEC, he was commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he previously served as general counsel from 2009 until 2013.