The Recorder, Law360, the Daily Journal, Bloomberg Law, Securities Docket, Pulse 2.0 and Alternatives Watch were among the national and regional media outlets that covered the arrival of McGuireWoods partners Gary Leung and Jodi Lopez, who joined the firm’s Securities Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling Practice Group in Los Angeles.
Leung served as director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office and associate director in the Division of Enforcement. Before entering public service with the SEC in 2012, he was a litigation partner in McGuireWoods’ Chicago office. Lopez represents accounting firms and their professionals, public companies and their directors and officers, and private equity firms in a range of regulatory and litigation matters involving financial reporting, accounting, disclosure and tax issues. She co-leads McGuireWoods’ Accountant & Auditor Liability Practice Area.
In interviews with The Recorder, an affiliate of The American Lawyer, Leung and Lopez discussed their careers, their moves to McGuireWoods, and the practices they plan to develop at the firm. The story was published March 18, 2026.
“I really wanted to build a practice focused on representing individuals, public companies, investment advisers and their auditors, [and] broker-dealers in internal investigations, regulatory compliance and enforcement defense,” Leung said. “And McGuireWoods was a great, great place to land for me. It’s a national leader in securities enforcement defense … and regulatory counseling. So it was a perfect fit, and it was also an opportunity for me to come home.”
Lopez added: “I am looking forward to partnering with my new colleagues at McGuireWoods in helping public companies and other clients that are navigating thorny accounting issues, whether that’s in the context of an internal investigation or an SEC or other regulatory matter.”