Joanna C. Hendon

• Defended a corporate client and senior executives in cross-border insider trading investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
• Defended the former chief risk officer of a financial institution in investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission arising from the 2023 failures of regional banks associated with digital asset deposits.
• Defended a senior executive of a digital asset platform in securities fraud investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
• Defended a former Dell Inc. investor relations employee accused of tipping in prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. United States v. Todd Newman, et. al. (S.D.N.Y.).
• Defended a Pershing Square Capital research analyst accused of tipping in an insider trading investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. In the Matter of Filip Szymik (S.E.C.), In the Matter of Jordan Peixoto (S.E.C.).
• Defended a Cheniere Energy, Inc. vice-president accused of tipping in an insider trading investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. S.E.C. v. Francis J. Steenberge, et al. (D. Conn.).
• Defended a broker-dealer, senior trader, and sales team in an investigation by FINRA concerning mark-ups and mark-downs in the purchase and sale of mortgage-backed securities.
• Defended a senior executive in a cross-border antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, European, and U.K. regulators.
• Defended university employees in investigations into sex trafficking by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. United States v. Robert Hadden (S.D.N.Y), United States v. Darius Paduch (S.D.N.Y).
• Defended New York real estate developers in civil litigation and investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York into violations of the Fair Housing Act.

Joanna C. Hendon is a co-leader of Alston & Bird’s White Collar, Government & Internal Investigations Team and has substantial trial experience. She is known for her tenacious advocacy, her courtroom skills, and for delivering sophisticated, strategic counsel to clients under investigation and in litigation. With a career spanning nearly 30 years, Joanna represents companies and individuals at trial and in arbitration, in civil litigation, and in matters before the Department of Justice, the SEC, the Federal Reserve, the NY Department of Financial Services, CFTC, FINRA, the NY Attorney General, and the Manhattan District Attorney.

Joanna is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA for White Collar Crime and Government Investigations, and in 2019, Chambers shortlisted Joanna for its prestigious New York White Collar Crime & Government Investigations Lawyer of the Year award. In Chambers, her clients have described her as “off the charts brilliant” and “outstanding.”

Early in her career, Joanna was as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where she served in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and handled numerous jury trials. As a prosecutor, Joanna received the John Marshall Award, the DOJ’s highest honor given to a lawyer for excellence at trial. Joanna served as a clerk for the Hon. Frank M. Coffin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Bar Admissions

• New York

Education

• Yale University (J.D., 1991)
• University of British Columbia (B.A., 1987)

Memberships