A Lawyer Stalks Wall Street Banks

How Dan Brockett got a $250 million trophy to hang on his wall.

- Matt Robinson

Ten years ago, lawyer Dan Brockett and his colleagues chose the equivalent of ditching their office jobs for careers as big-game hunters. As Wall Street cratered during the financial crisis, Brockett helped lead his firm’s move away from representing the world’s biggest banks, forgoing $1,000-an-hour defense work. Now he earns his keep by suing the very companies that used to pay his bills. He gets paid only if he wins, by getting a cut of a client’s recovery. “I like the fees,” he says. “Hourly rates are boring.”

In his office at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in New York, Brockett, 61, points to a framed photo of a $250 million legal fee award that hangs near his desk. Lawyers such as Brockett are profit-seeking securities watchdogs for hire, a role that could grow more prominent in the anti-regulatory era of President Trump. Facing tighter budgets, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to cut enforcement staff and scale back travel budgets.