Former SEC Deputy Director Nekia Hackworth joins Jones Day as partner in Atlanta
Nekia Hackworth has joined Jones Day as a partner in its Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice. She is based in the Firm's Atlanta Office.
Ms. Hackworth has more than 20 years of experience in both government and private practice as a lawyer representing clients in white-collar criminal cases and civil litigation, conducting government and internal investigations, and counseling companies on corporate compliance matters. She served most recently as the Deputy Director of Enforcement in the Southeast Region for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she supervised more than 250 professionals with responsibility for SEC matters across three offices (Washington, Atlanta, and Miami) and 11 jurisdictions. She oversaw hundreds of investigations in her tenure at the SEC, including suspected market manipulation, insider trading, and investment adviser fraud.
"Nekia has a rare combination of high-level government enforcement experience at both the SEC and the Department of Justice, to go along with her skills as a civil litigator," said Ted Chung, the leader of Jones Day's Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice. "Her ability to analyze complex cases from various perspectives of importance to public and private companies, coupled with her in-depth understanding of investigations and government enforcement efforts, will be a tremendous asset to our clients. I am pleased to welcome Nekia to Jones Day."
Ms. Hackworth's previous appointments in public service included four years as Director of the SEC's Atlanta Regional Office, eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, and nearly two years as Senior Counsel and Associate Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. She also has experience in private practice, advising clients as a litigation partner specializing in corporate internal investigations, government investigations, white collar criminal defense, and complex commercial litigation.
"Nekia is an agile lawyer with extensive experience providing strategic counsel to businesses and government agencies, including those in the securities, financial services, and healthcare industries," said Al LaFiandra, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Atlanta Office. "Her proven success leading and managing corporate internal investigations, government investigations, regulatory relations, commercial litigation, and corporate risk management efforts is an important complement to our capabilities here in Atlanta."
At Jones Day, Ms. Hackworth joins a team of lawyers worldwide who have helped clients with many of the most significant U.S. and cross-border investigations and white-collar criminal defense matters in recent decades. She will work with a global team of experienced lawyers to defend companies and individuals against allegations relating to all areas of white-collar crime, including internal investigations and compliance reviews, federal and state investigations, enforcement actions and criminal prosecutions, and regulatory issues.
Ms. Hackworth earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, an MBA from Harvard Business School and her undergraduate degree from Emory University. She was recognized in 2024 with the "Trailblazer Award" by the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management Professionals and is a past winner of the "Women Worth Watching Leadership Award" presented by Profiles in Diversity.
"The global team of former government enforcement officials and renowned defense attorneys who comprise Jones Day's Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice make up one of the most formidable practice groups in the world focused in this high-stakes area of the law," said Ms. Hackworth. "I am honored to join such an elite team and look forward to working alongside my new colleagues in Atlanta and worldwide on our clients' most pressing government investigations, internal investigations, and white collar criminal matters."
