Anthony F. Fata founded Fata Law LLC to provide tailored services to traders, brokers, advisers and financial industry executives and professionals. For more than twenty years, he has provided advocacy and counsel to clients in complex financial and commercial matters.
Mr. Fata prides himself on understanding his clients' important legal needs. He appreciates that his clients' legal needs arise in the context of important business, financial, family and personal considerations.
Mr. Fata stays in frequent contact with clients and strives to provide the best outcome for the client under the circumstances, whether that is fighting until the end or posturing the matter for a favorable, early outcome.
Mr. Fata has extensive experience handling issues under the commodity and securities laws. He has regularly appeared before federal and state courts throughout the United States. He has also handled regulatory matters overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and other governmental and self-regulatory agencies. Mr. Fata also handles difficult business disputes, including commercial litigation and business break-ups.
Mr. Fata began his legal career at McDermott Will & Emery, where he defended clients in SEC enforcement actions, securities class actions and shareholder derivative matters. He joined Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP, where he became partner and he led the firm's efforts in commodity matters, securities matters and other complex litigation and regulatory matters. Mr. departed Cafferty to establish Fata Law LLC, which handles regulatory defense and investor matters.
Mr. Fata is also a partner at a separate firm, New York-based Kirby McInerney, where he represents traders, trading firms and investors in financial market class actions and whistleblower matters. Mr. Fata does not handle class actions or whistleblower matters through Fata Law LLC, and Fata Law LLC and Kirby McInerney are separate and distinct law firms.
Legal Community
Mr. Fata is active in the Chicago legal community. In 2022, he was nominated to serve a two-year term on the Chicago Bar Association Board of Managers. Since 2017, he has served on the Editorial Board of the CBA Record. And since 2019, he has served as a Co-Chair of the Securities Law Committee.
Since 2016, Mr. Fata has served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law. He teaches J.D., M.S.J. and LL.M candidates in a wide range of financial services courses, including Securities Regulation, Regulating Broker Dealers, Regulating Funds and Advisors, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Financial Crimes Compliance, Regulating Depository Institutions, Financial Privacy, and Corporate Law. Mr. Fata thoroughly enjoys teaching the next generation of attorneys, compliance professionals, executives and regulators on these subjects.
Since 2013, Mr. Fata has served as a recurring panelist for the Practising Law Institute Internal Investigations Seminar conducted in Chicago.
Education
Mr. Fata earned his B.A. from Miami University, where he was involved in philanthropic efforts including the Miami University Student Foundation. During college, Mr. Fata worked for the university, restaurants and law firms.
Mr. Fata attended The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he graduated with honors and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He also served as a research assistant to Professor Arthur Greenbaum (civil procedure and ethics) and Professor Robert Berry (contracts and sports law). Mr. Fata was a Managing Editor for the Journal on Dispute Resolution. He received a number of honors, including the CALI Excellence for the Future Award, the CALI Consumer Law award, and the Albert A. Levin Memorial Award for Legal Professions. During law school, Mr. Fata worked part time for the university, law firms and restaurants.
Community Involvement
Since 2014, Mr. Fata has served on the Religious Education Board for Faith Hope & Charity. Since 2016, he has served as a religious education teacher. During 2012-2019, Mr. Fata served as a soccer coach and division coordinator for the American Youth Soccer Organization.
Publications
Mr. Fata has authored a number of articles concerning financial industry and financial services law and corporate governance. These include:
Protecting (or Cracking) the Nest Egg: Why Titles and Contracts Matter When Selecting a Financial Professional, CBA Record (February 2021) (co-authored with Delaney Slater);
Whistleblowers Among Us: The New Regulatory and Self-Policing Paradigm, CBA Record (May 2018) (co-authored with David Kovel);
The Blockchain Bandwagon-Cryptocurrency on the Move: Marketplace Overview and Regulatory Developments, CBA Record (January 2018) (co-authored with Brian O'Connell);
Corporate Cons in the 21st Century: Dealing with the Global Employee Fraud Epidemic, PLI Internal Investigations Handbook (March 2017) (co-authored with Corey M. Martens);
Mitigating, Detecting, and Dealing with Employee Fraud - The Problem of the Inside Job, CBA Record (January 2017) (co-authored with Corey M. Martens);
The Investigation is Internal, But Is This Document Privileged? An Overview of Privilege Issues in Internal Investigations, PLI Internal Investigations Handbook (April 2016); and
Untangling the Seamless Web: Seven Critical Assumptions When Planning Investigations, PLI Internal Investigations Handbook (2013).