Era Anagnosti (Courtesy photo)

On the heels of its rapid expansion in Chicago and Houston, White & Case is bulking up its Washington, D.C., office with the addition of longtime U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Era Anagnosti.

Anagnosti, who most recently served in the agency's Corporation Finance division as the acting assistant director for the Office of Financial Services, is joining as a partner in White & Case's global capital markets practice.

“I did not have a crystal ball knowing how long I was going to be at SEC,” Anagnosti said of her decision-making process. “I knew that I always wanted to grow and build upon my experience.”

After practicing at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and DLA Piper earlier in her career, Anagnosti joined the SEC in 2007 and took on a number of different roles at the agency.

She worked on securities matters for registrants in the Office of Manufacturing and Construction and was a senior adviser in the Office of Risk and Strategy, where she worked to evaluate the division's disclosure programs. She also served as legal branch chief and was a part of the chief counsel's shareholder proposal and conflicts minerals disclosure task forces.

In her most recent role, Anagnosti led a team responsible for reviewing securities filings by national and international banks, investment advisers and other financial services companies. She also established the division's disclosure program for initial token offerings and advising on other financial technology matters, including blockchain initiatives.

After over a decade at the SEC, Anagnosti said she was looking for the right blend of capital markets practice that was supported by a fairly robust regulatory practice in the banking and fintech space. But she also wanted to join a firm that had a strategic vision for how to grow its financial institution advisory practice.

“All of those things I was able to really find at White & Case,” she said.

White & Case is halfway through its ambitious five-year growth plan to grow substantially in the U.S., particularly in its M&A, private equity, capital markets and disputes practices, with a focus on the private equity, financial institutions, technology and oil and gas industries.

“Continuing to grow our global capital markets practice is a key pillar of the firm's strategy,” John Vetterli, White & Case's head of Americas capital markets section, said in a statement.

“Adding top talent such as Era further deepens our bench of expertise available to all clients, and complements the investments we have made in our financial institutions advisory practice given her deep expertise in this sector.”

This year has been a busy one on the lateral hiring front for White & Case, which last year saw its gross revenue hit a record high of $1.8 billion.

In February, the firm opened an office in Houston with the additions of Vinson & Elkins partner James “Jay” Cuclis, Andrew Kurth Kenyon partner Charlie Ofner, and Saul Daniel, an England-qualified partner who formerly practiced in the firm's London and Abu Dhabi offices.

Since opening the office has quickly expanded, including with the hires of Kirkland & Ellis partner Chad McCormick, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner Steven Otillar, Paul Hastings partner Steven Tredennick and King & Spalding's David Strickland and Jorge Mattamouros.

In June, the 2,039-lawyer firm opened up an office in Chicago, which last week added a 13-lawyer team from the Windy City office of national real estate firm Pircher, Nichols & Meeks. And in Palo Alto, California, the firm welcomed back former counsel Howard Wettan from Visa Inc., where he spent the last two years as a vice president and associate general counsel.

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