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Gary J. Aguirre is an American lawyer, former investigator with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and whistleblower. After working in a law firm briefly, he became a public defender, then worked as a trial lawyer in California. Having reached his professional and financial goals, he took an extended break in 1995. In 2000, he decided to go into public service and went back to law school, focusing on international and securities law. After earning his second law degree, he applied for a job with the SEC, where he became the lead investigator on an insider trading case involving Pequot Capital Management. Suspecting the leaked information came from John J. Mack, a Wall Street titan and major contributor to the 2004 campaign of President George W. Bush, Aguirre wanted to subpoena Mack, but supervisors told him Mack had too much "political clout" and would not be pursued. Aguirre complained to a superior about the preferential treatment being given Mack and was fired without warning. A Senate investigation later found his termination to have been an illegal reprisal.〔("The Firing of an SEC Attorney and the Investigation of Pequot Capital Management." ) Report by the United States Senate Committees on Finance and Judiciary. (August 3, 2007) Retrieved February 20, 2011〕 In May 2010, Pequot Capital settled its insider trading charges with the SEC for $28 million〔("Conn. couple gets $1 mln SEC award for Pequot" ) Reuters (July 23, 2010). Retrieved February 18, 2011〕 and a month later, the SEC settled the wrongful termination suit filed by Aguirre for $755,000.〔Courtney Comstock, ("Former SEC Whistleblower Gary Aguirre Gets Vindication For His Pursuit Of John Mack" ) Business Insider (June 30, 2010). Retrieved February 18, 2011〕 Aguirre returned to private practice in San Diego in 2008, specializing in securities law. He has emerged as a major critic of the SEC, calling it an agency that was set up to protect the public from Wall Street, but now protects Wall Street from the public.〔Don Bauder, ("Gary Aguirre Major Source in Taibbi Blockbuster" ) ''San Diego Reader'' blog post (February 17, 2011). Retrieved February 19, 2011〕〔Liz Moyer, ("Watchdog Alleges Insider Trading At SEC" ) ''Forbes'' (May 15, 2009). Retrieved March 1, 2011〕 He represents Darcy Flynn, also an SEC whistleblower, who in summer 2011 was interviewed by staff from three congressional committees. He said that the SEC had destroyed thousands of records of preliminary investigations and that SEC investigators trying to pursue a case against Deutsche Bank were thwarted by Richard H. Walker, then SEC director of enforcement, who shortly thereafter, took a job at Deutsche Bank as general counsel.〔Matt Taibbi, ("Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?" ) ''Rolling Stone'' (August 17, 2011). Retrieved August 19, 2011〕 He also represents Rodolfo Michelon, a whistleblower, a former comptroller at Sempra Global, who claims Sempra paid kickbacks to Mexican government officials and has filed a suit against the SEC alleging the SEC "outsourced" its investigation of Sempra to a law firm with ties to Sempra, in effect subverting the law.〔Matt Reynolds, ("SEC Kowtows to Fortune 500 on Corruption 'Investigations,' Whistleblower Says" ) Courthouse News Service (April 27, 2012). Retrieved May 3, 2012〕 == Enters private practice == Aguirre is a lawyer in San Diego, California. He was admitted to the State Bar of California on December 23, 1966.〔Gary Aguirre v. Securities and Exchange Commission, Case 1:08-cv-01872-ESH, Second Amended Complaint. United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Filed April 1, 2009, pp. 2–4〕 He became an associate at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, then one of San Francisco's largest firms. In his spare time, worked on Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.〔Claude Walbert, "Coming Home: Gary Aguirre's return to San Diego". ''San Diego Lawyer'' (September/October 2007) pp. 16–20.〕 On May 28, 1968, Kennedy sent him a letter that spoke of the special role lawyers played in bringing about orderly change to the nation. Just eight days after sending the letter, Kennedy was assassinated.〔 After a year, Aguirre left Brobeck to become a public defender in Fresno County, where he found both the trial experience〔 and public service he was seeking. Later moving back to private practice in San Diego, he made a name for himself〔 by proving that Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was liable〔Ted Vollmer, "PSA Ruled Liable for Crash Damage Claims", ''Los Angeles Times San Diego County Edition'' (August 15, 1979)〕 for a mid-air plane crash over San Diego in 1978, then the worst aviation disaster in U.S. history.〔("Hull filmmaker's documentary on plane crash opens Wednesday" ) ''The Patriot Ledger'' (April 6, 2010) Retrieved February 21, 2011〕 In the 1980s, Aguirre pioneered construction-defect litigation, a branch of class-action law〔Ricardo Sandoval, ("When the roof falls in" ) (PDF) ''California Lawyer'' (September 1992) Retrieved February 18, 2011〕 previously considered by San Diego lawyers to be too difficult for plaintiffs to win.〔 In 1983, ''San Diego Magazine'' called him "a legal fireball" for his case proving PSA's liability and for his case against the Manville Corporation, which had national importance.〔"83 San Diegans to Watch in '83". ''San Diego Magazine'' (January 1983) p. 105〕〔Raymond A. Joseph, "Rescon Walls Cause Trouble for Manville", ''The Wall Street Journal'' (December 28, 1982).〕〔("A Manville Lawsuit Allowed to Proceed" ) ''The New York Times'' (December 14, 1982). Retrieved March 3, 2011 〕 Arguing on behalf of homeowners in construction-defect cases, by 1994, Aguirre and his partner had won 94 consecutive cases, recovering over $200 million for the plaintiffs.〔 Aguirre has received three "Outstanding Trial Lawyer" awards from the San Diego Trial Lawyers Association. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gary J. Aguirre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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