A spike in federal agency action against penny stock traders has elicited a strong response from attorneys at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, as the firm recently sued the Securities and Exchange Commission over its failure to respond to a FOIA request for communications related to broker-dealer-related enforcement actions over the last five years.

While other attorneys said the fact pattern may be hard to overcome in the disputed cases, they understand the goal of seeking clarity in a rapidly changing marketplace.