Lecturer Bios
James S. Wrona, Esq.
James S. Wrona is Vice President and Associate General Counsel for FINRA in Washington, DC. In this role, he is responsible for various policy initiatives, rule changes and litigation regarding the securities industry. Mr. Wrona formerly was associated with the law firm of K&L Gates LLP, where his practice focused on complex federal litigation. He also previously served as a federal law clerk for the Honorable A. Andrew Hauk of the United States District Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles).
Mr. Wrona is a frequent speaker at securities and litigation conferences and author of numerous law review articles, including The Best of Both Worlds: A Fact-Based Analysis of the Legal Obligations of Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers and a Framework for Enhanced Investor Protection, 68 Bus. Law. 1 (Nov. 2012); The Securities Industry and the Internet: A Suitable Match 2001 Colum. Bus. L. Rev. 601 (2001).
Lourdes Gonzalez, Esq.
Assistant Chief Counsel for Sales Practices in the Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Office of Chief Counsel has program responsibility for a broad range of broker-dealer issues, including broker-dealer registration, sales practices, supervision, securities arbitration, and anti-money laundering compliance. She is a frequent speaker on these topics, and has represented the Commission both nationally and internationally. In addition, Ms. Gonzalez is the Commission’s representative to the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group and she oversees the Commission staff’s participation in the Financial Action Task Force. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Gonzalez worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She earned her law degree from George Washington University and her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
Chris Lewis
General Counsel and a member of the Edward Jones Executive and Management Committees. He is responsible for leading all associates who provide legal support to the firm and for Compliance and Government Relations. Mr. Lewis joined Edward Jones in 2007 as a principal and deputy general counsel in the Legal division. In 2015, he was named general counsel. A graduate of Columbia University School of Law as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Mr. Lewis is a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) General Counsel Committee. Mr. Lewis serves as a member of the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Foundation, Missouri Botanical Garden and is a member of the Board of Trustees at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y.
Michelle Oroschakoff, Esq.
Chief Legal Officer for LPL Financial, where she is responsible for companywide legal matters, risk management processes and controls, compliance, and governance, and has a leading role in the company’s ongoing focus on enhancing the corporate risk profile. Ms. Oroschakoff has more than 20 years of financial services industry experience, focused on legal, compliance, and risk management. She joined LPL Financial in 2013 from Morgan Stanley, where she had most recently served as Managing Director and Global Chief Risk Officer of the firm’s Wealth Management Group, as well as Chief Compliance Officer for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Earlier in her career at Morgan
Stanley, Ms. Oroschakoff spent 11 years in a variety of legal and compliance roles, including associate general counsel and head of the firm’s San Francisco litigation department. She also served as the general counsel for a large RIA firm. Early in her career, she was an associate in the securities litigation departments of Shearman & Sterling and Morrison & Foerster. She serves on various industry committees. Ms. Oroschakoff earned a Juris Doctorate cum laude, Order of the Coif, from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Oregon.