Elizabeth Lan Davis attorney profile image

Elizabeth Lan Davis

edavis@mmlawus.com
1001 G Street, N.W.
Seventh Floor
Washington, DC 20001
T: (202) 220-1933
F: (202) 661-7059
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Practice Areas
Education
  • J.D., Tulane University School of Law, 1999
  • B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1996
Admissions
  • District of Columbia

 

Practice Areas

Liz Davis is the Chair of Murphy & McGonigle, P.C.  She is a founding member of the firm’s Commodities, Futures & Derivatives Practice, and also practices in the FinTech & Blockchain and White Collar Defense, Investigations & Compliance Counseling practices.  With nearly two decades of prior federal government experience as a Chief Trial Attorney with the Division of Enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and a civil trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Liz’s deep experience and insight permits her to effectively advocate and guide in-house counsel, financial services businesses, and individuals before the CFTC, DOJ, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Futures Association (NFA), and exchanges such as CME and ICE.

Liz represents financial institutions, proprietary trading firms, agricultural firms, brokerage firms, fintech firms, commodity pools and commodity trading advisers in connection with complex investigations, inquiries, and examinations relating to agricultural and energy commodities, digital assets, swaps, forex, precious metals, Treasuries, and other financial products.  Liz also defends investment advisers, brokers, traders, and senior management and compliance officials of global financial entities in connection with on-the-record testimony, depositions, informal interviews, and other appearances before federal government agencies, self-regulatory organizations, and exchanges.  Liz has successfully negotiated favorable settlements in both civil and criminal matters on behalf of her clients significantly reducing the penalties sought.  Liz also works with companies to efficiently conduct corporate internal investigations.  Liz provides regulatory advice to cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms in connection with registration issues and rule enforcement reviews with the CFTC as well as relating to state money transmitter licenses.        

While at the CFTC, Liz led and supervised numerous civil regulatory enforcement investigations covering a wide range of matters from manipulation, disruptive trading practices such as spoofing, fraud, virtual currencies, ICOs, credit default swap indices, regulatory compliance, undercapitalization, and swaps reporting.

Prior to her nine-year tenure at CFTC, Liz served as Counsel to the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Matters for the Tax Division and was a trial attorney in the Tax Division’s civil trial section.  In her role as a trial attorney, Ms. Davis tried numerous bench and jury trials to judgment, and prevailed by motion practice, in matters on behalf of and against the IRS in federal district and bankruptcy courts.  Ms. Davis earned the DOJ Tax Division Outstanding Attorney award in 2004, 2006, and 2007.

Professional Affiliations

  • Energy Bar Association
    - Member
  • Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
    - Past Fellow
  • Women in Derivatives
    - Member
  • Women in Housing and Finance
    - Member
  • Women in Listed Derivatives
    - Member
  • Women’s Bar Association of Washington, DC
    - Past Diversity Committee Co-Chair
  • Women’s Energy Network
    - Member
  • Women's White Collar Defense Association
    - Member

Publications

Seminars and Presentations

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