Cross_Meredith

Meredith B. Cross

Cross_Meredith

Meredith B. Cross

Partner

New York + 1 212 295 6644 Washington DC

Meredith B. Cross is a corporate finance securities lawyer who has dedicated her career, both through public service at the SEC and in private practice, to furthering the effectiveness of federal securities laws. As Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance from 2009 to 2013, she led the Division’s implementation of the Dodd Frank Act and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, recommending nearly 60 rulemaking releases to the Commission and testifying before Congress on corporate governance, capital formation, executive compensation, asset backed securities, and agency management and budget.
 
Ms. Cross previously served in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance from 1990 to 1998 as Deputy Director, Associate Director (International and Small Business), and Chief Counsel. She joined WilmerHale as a partner in 1998, returned to the SEC in 2009 at the request of then-Chair Mary Schapiro to lead Corporation Finance in the aftermath of the financial crisis, then rejoined WilmerHale in 2013. Today, she continues to represent public companies and boards on high stakes disclosure, corporate governance, and corporate finance issues, including complex, corporate finance and governance related internal investigations, SEC enforcement, and crisis response.
 
A long-time contributor to the profession’s thought leadership, she is a frequent speaker at securities and corporate governance law conferences. She recently completed a five-year term as Co-Chair of PLI’s Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, currently serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Securities Regulation Institute, and is a Fellow in the American College of Governance Counsel. Ms. Cross has devoted significant efforts to preserving the SEC’s history, including serving as Chair of the SEC Historical Society in 2025.
 
A Los Angeles native, Ms. Cross earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School. She clerked for Judge Albert J. Henderson on the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and practiced in Atlanta from 1983 to 1990 before entering government service.

Recognition

  • Named to the 2025–2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America lists.
  • Recognized for her exceptional securities practice in the 2006–2009 and both her securities and corporate governance practice in the 2014–2025 editions of Chambers USA Guide.
  • Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2005–2025 editions of Best Lawyers in America for securities and capital markets law and 2023–2024 editions for corporate governance law. Named by Best Lawyers as Washington DC Securities/Capital Markets "Lawyer of the Year" in 2017. 
  • Recipient of the 2014 Linda Quinn Lifetime Achievement Award by TheCorporateCounsel.net.
  • Named to the NACD Directorship 100, A Who's Who of the American Corporate Governance Community, in 2010.
  • Recognized as a Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer in 2003.

Insights & News

View all of Meredith's insights & news

Credentials

  • Education

    • JD, Vanderbilt University Law School, 1982

      Order of the Coif, Vanderbilt Law Review

    • BA, Duke University, 1979

      cum laude

  • Admissions

    • District of Columbia

    • New York

  • Clerkships

    • The Hon. Albert J. Henderson, US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Credentials

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