Gurbir S. Grewal

Primary Focus & Experience

Having served as a state attorney general, federal prosecutor and securities regulator, Mr. Grewal brings a unique blend of government experience to his representation of clients across a range of regulatory enforcement and white-collar criminal matters, including litigated cases. Before joining Milbank, he served for over three years as Director of the Division of Enforcement of the US Securities & Exchange Commission and previously served, for more than three years, as Attorney General of the State of New Jersey.

As SEC Enforcement Director, Mr. Grewal oversaw all investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation conducted by the SEC and supervised a staff of more than 1,300 attorneys and accountants nationwide from 2021 to 2024. During his tenure, the Commission brought over 2,400 enforcement actions, resulting in orders for more than $20 billion in financial remedies. These matters included more than 100 enforcement actions addressing noncompliance in the crypto space; a series of high-profile enforcement matters protecting investors in private funds from market manipulation and misleading or inadequate disclosures regarding conflicts of interest, fees and valuation; the first trial finding a defendant liable for insider trading in the shares of a peer company; significant matters involving audit firms and gatekeeper accountability; and a proactive initiative designed to ensure that regulated entities complied with their recordkeeping requirements.

During his time as Attorney General of New Jersey, Mr. Grewal was New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer and chief legal officer, heading the Department of Law & Public Safety, which employs more than 3,700 uniformed officers, 750 lawyers, and thousands of additional public servants, including investigators, regulators, and administrative staff. As Attorney General, he prioritized protecting New Jerseyans by bringing major antitrust actions alongside other states against several technology and social media companies; holding companies responsible for failing to protect customer data as a result of poor cybersecurity practices; targeting predatory lenders; and filing a number of major Natural Resource Damages cases against some of the country’s largest companies for polluting New Jersey’s natural resources.

Before joining the SEC, Mr. Grewal held other positions of great responsibility in federal and state law enforcement. From 2016 to 2018, before his appointment by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy as Attorney General of New Jersey, Mr. Grewal was nominated by then Governor Chris Christie and served for two years as the Bergen Country Prosecutor, the chief law enforcement officer for New Jersey’s most populous county.

He also served as a federal criminal prosecutor for a total of 10 years, first in the Eastern District of New York, and then in the District of New Jersey. While serving as an Assistant US Attorney in New Jersey, Mr. Grewal was Chief and Deputy Chief of the Office’s Economic Crimes Unit. As a government prosecutor, he led a number of high-profile securities fraud prosecutions, including the largest known computer hacking and insider trading scheme, which involved the theft of over 150,000 yet-to-be released press releases concerning public companies and over $30 million in illicit trading profits; and the first federal securities fraud prosecution of stock market manipulation involving high-frequency trading “layering” strategy.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Grewal worked in private practice as a litigator. Mr. Grewal has tried many cases to verdict and participated in arguments in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Mr. Grewal has been recognized for his work in public service by federal and state law enforcement agencies, bar associations, civic groups and advocacy organizations. Among others, he is the recipient of multiple recognitions from the SEC, FBI, DEA, DHS and ATF for his prosecutorial work; the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Public Service Leadership Award; the South Asian Bar Association of North America’s Cornerstone Award; the Anti-Defamation League’s Blum-Kovler Nation of Immigrants Award; and the New York City Urban Debate League’s Champion of Debate Award.

Throughout his career, Mr. Grewal has also been called upon as a keynote speaker by a number of organizations, as well as a commencement speaker by universities. In 2018, he delivered the keynote address at the Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies’ 24th Annual Awards Gala. Also in 2018, he was the commencement speaker at Rutgers Law School’s convocation ceremony.

Mr. Grewal previously served as president of the South Asian Bar Association of New York.