Barry R. Goldsmith is a partner in the New York and Washington, D.C., offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Goldsmith is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Securities Enforcement Practice Group, Securities Litigation Practice Group, and White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group. Mr. Goldsmith’s practice focuses on the representation of securities firms, brokers/dealers, investment companies and investment advisers and other financial institutions, issuers and their employees in investigations and litigation with the SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and state securities regulators and attorneys general.

Mr. Goldsmith is consistently ranked as one of the top Securities Regulatory and Enforcement attorneys in the nation by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Institutional Investor’s Benchmark Litigation Guide  and The Best Lawyers in America®. Best Lawyers named him New York City Securities Regulation “Lawyer of the Year” for 2015 and 2018, in addition to 2014 New York City Litigation ‒ Securities “Lawyer of the Year.” Mr. Goldsmith was also recognized by Washingtonian Magazine  as one of Washington’s Top Lawyers for securities law, and BTI Consulting named him to its “BTI Client Service All-Stars” list.  Chambers  notes that Mr. Goldsmith is well regarded for his background at the SEC and FINRA.  He is “one of the leading lawyers in this area” and is continually “brought in on very interesting, bet-the-company cases,” having “terrific practical implications for his advice as well as his credibility within the SEC,” “great instincts and great insights into the regulators,” and has an “ability to keep the big picture in mind while paying attention to the details.”

Mr. Goldsmith is a frequent speaker on securities enforcement and regulatory issues at industry, legal and media sponsored conferences. He has also authored and co-authored numerous securities industry related articles.

Mr. Goldsmith joined Gibson Dunn in 2006 after serving as Executive Vice President for Enforcement of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) now FINRA, the primary private-sector regulator of the country’s securities industry. Mr. Goldsmith was NASD’s top enforcement official responsible for formulating its national enforcement policy and overseeing investigations and cases. Prior to his 10-year tenure at NASD, Mr. Goldsmith served as Chief Litigation Counsel at the SEC where he was responsible for all enforcement litigation brought by the agency.

Mr. Goldsmith brings a wealth of experience to Gibson Dunn. He oversaw NASD’s enforcement division during a period of major change and enforcement activity on Wall Street.  He was responsible for major NASD enforcement initiatives involving IPO allocation practices, research analyst conflicts of interest, fixed income abuses, variable annuity and life insurance sales practices, as well as mutual fund and hedge fund sales and marketing activities.  As Chief Litigation Counsel at the SEC, Mr. Goldsmith had significant responsibilities for the SEC’s landmark cases against Drexel Burnham Lambert, Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky and Paul Bilzerian. He successfully tried precedent-setting enforcement actions against Victor and Steven Posner where he obtained the first ever SEC-litigated officer and director bar and the SEC’s first litigated “stock parking” case against First City Financial Corp. and Mark Belzberg.

Mr. Goldsmith joined NASD in 1996. During his tenure, he more than doubled the number of enforcement staff under his direction and significantly increased the number of new enforcement actions by NASD’s 16 offices throughout the country. Prior to serving as head of enforcement at NASD, Mr. Goldsmith was at the Division of Enforcement at the SEC for 10 years, serving as Chief Litigation Counsel from 1993 to 1996 and Senior Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel from 1990 to 1993.

Prior to the SEC, Mr. Goldsmith was a litigation partner with a Washington, D.C., law firm and served as a law clerk to a federal district judge.

Mr. Goldsmith received his Juris Doctor in 1975 from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as lead articles editor of Law and Policy in International Business.  Mr. Goldsmith graduated magna cum laude  in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1972.