Since joining Stroock in 1989, Wrenn Chais has consistently been engaged in securities-related litigation with particular emphasis on directors and officers liability and insurance coverage issues, accountant liability and white collar crime. She has litigated matters in arbitration tribunals and administrative, state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level.

She has been engaged in the defense of numerous class actions, derivative actions and SEC investigations and proceedings. In these matters, she has represented directors, officers, corporations, financial institutions, brokerage firms, investment advisors, accounting firms and their individual auditors, and directors and officers liability and comprehensive general liability insurance carriers. She also has represented special committees of boards of directors in connection with derivative matters. Ms. Chais has also represented auditors and auditing firms in connection with investigations by the United States Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Department of the Treasury.

Among her recent representations, Ms. Chais has:

Successfully petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review an order of the Securities and Exchange Commission barring auditors from appearing or practicing before the Commission under Rule 102(e) resulting in the reversal of the Commission's opinion and order.

Represented an officer of publicly traded high tech company in connection with allegations of backdating stock options before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Special Committee of the Board of Directors and in securities class action litigation.

Represented the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of a publicly traded high tech company in connection with their investigation of potential violation of securities laws and breach of fiduciary duties.

Represented an accounting firm before the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with alleged violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Activities

Co-author: The Board’s Investigative Authority: Does the Threat of Job Forfeiture Jeopardize Criminal Investigations, PCAOB Reporter, May 27, 2003 (also cited in U.S. Master Auditing Guide, by D. Larry Crumbley, CCH Incorporated, 2004); Free Up Boards of Directors, Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2002; A Brief Perspective on Governance Reform, Wall Street Lawyer, August 2002

Admitted to Practice

California, 1989; District of Columbia, 1989; U.S. District Court, Central, Northern and Southern Districts of California, 1990; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1989; U.S. Supreme Court, 2000; U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, 2004

Education

J.D., cum laude, Pepperdine University School of Law, 1989; Member, Pepperdine Law Review, 1988-1989

B.B.A., Texas Christian University, 1984