Vanessa A. Countryman
Center:
Neel Corporate Governance Center
Biography
Vanessa A. Countryman is Chief Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, the division tasked with providing economic analysis and data analytics to support the mission of the commission. In that role, Countryman coordinates the integration of the division’s economic analyses into commission rulemakings and other commission action, collaborating with staff from divisions and offices across the agency.
Countryman also provides guidance and counsel to the chief economist and other division staff regarding legal issues implicated by the division’s broad mandate. From July 2010 through February 2012, she was Counsel to Commissioners Kathleen L. Casey and then Daniel M. Gallagher.
Prior to joining the Commission, she worked at the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she participated in a variety of litigation matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate and trial courts, including challenges to federal regulations. She also represented clients in the accounting profession in enforcement and other administrative proceedings before the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and provided ongoing advice regarding regulatory and legislative issues.
From 2005 to 2006, Countryman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Emilio M. Garza on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in San Antonio, Texas.
Countryman attended law school at the University of Chicago after receiving an M.Phil. in Victorian Literature from Oxford University. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Columbia University.
