Elissa J. Preheim
elissa.preheim@arnoldporter.com vCard
Elissa Preheim is an experienced litigator who focuses her practice on SEC and PCAOB enforcement actions and complex commercial and environmental litigation, with an emphasis on class actions and professional liability. Ms. Preheim has successfully defended against actions filed in federal and state courts and administrative tribunals by the SEC, PCAOB and class and derivative action plaintiffs, including securities fraud class actions, shareholder derivative and breach of fiduciary duty litigation. Her clients include public and private companies, directors, officers, and accountants in civil litigation, investigations and enforcement proceedings, including financial reporting, complex accounting and auditor liability disputes. Ms. Preheim's experience also includes defending toxic tort lawsuits related to contaminated sites, Clean Water Act litigation and natural resource damages claims. She regularly litigates high stakes matters involving parallel proceedings.
By court appointment, Ms. Preheim serves on the Board on Professional Responsibility of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She previously served as Chair of one of the Hearing Committees of the DC Board on Professional Responsibility hearing attorney disciplinary matters.
Ms. Preheim graduated summa cum laude from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she was Executive Articles Editor of the Indiana Law Journal. She subsequently clerked for the Honorable Bruce M. Selya at the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Securities Enforcement and Litigation
SEC and PCAOB Litigation and Investigations
Securities and Other Complex Litigation
Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation
Big Four accounting firm audit partner, as trial counsel in a contested PCAOB disciplinary proceeding.
Audit partner in PCAOB investigation relating to pharmaceutical industry.
Audit partner and other auditors in PCAOB investigation relating to audit documentation standards.
Audit partner in PCAOB investigation relating to audits of a financial institution's loan and investment portfolio.
Accounting firms and individual auditors, including audit partners, concurring partners, and national office partners, in numerous SEC investigations and related securities actions regarding alleged financial statement and accounting fraud in a variety of industries, including financial services, energy services, manufacturing and telecommunications.
Former company executive in Alien Tort Statute, shareholder derivative and other related litigation arising from extortion payments made by Chiquita's former subsidiary to extra-governmental parties. In re Chiquita Brands International, Inc., Alien Tort Statute and Shareholders Derivative Litigation (S.D. Fla.).
Komatsu, in M&A litigation asserting securities and fiduciary duty claims in federal and state actions.
Outside accounting firm and individual auditors in securities fraud class actions, as well as parallel proceedings in California, Illinois, and New Jersey state courts, related government investigations, and third-party litigation. In re Qwest Communications International Inc. Securities Litigation (D. Colo.).
GEICO in defeating certification of national class action and securing dismissal of case challenging as discriminatory GEICO's consideration of occupation and education level in underwriting.
Honeywell, currently defending federal class action and numerous other toxic tort suits related to groundwater contamination in New York.
BP, as member of trial team in Clean Water Act litigation relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and as counsel in related natural resource damages (NRD) assessment.
Former chemical company in class actions seeking US$1 billion in damages for alleged diminution in property values and personal injury from groundwater plume associated with former fertilizer manufacturing facility.
M&A Litigation and Commercial Disputes
Arnold & Porter Webinar
Securities Enforcement and Disputes and the Life Sciences Industry
Arnold & Porter Seminar
Supreme Court to Whistleblowers: If You See Something, Say Something (to the SEC)
The Supreme Court Appears to Endorse SEC-Reporting Requirement for Dodd-Frank Whistleblowers
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Dodd-Frank Whistleblowers Must Report to the SEC
JD, Indiana University, 1996, summa cum laude
BA, Northwestern University, 1993, Phi Beta Kappa
Numerous Federal Courts
United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit, The Honorable Bruce M. Selya
Board on Professional Responsibility, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Chair, Board of Visitors, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Overview Experience Perspectives Credentials