Erika A. Kelton
SEC Whistleblowers · Dodd-Frank Awards · International Claims · Securities Enforcement
Our client exposed extraordinarily deceitful and opportunistic practices that were deeply entrenched and well hidden.
Erika A. Kelton, Phillips & Cohen release, 2014
Erika A. Kelton and the Work Behind an Anonymous SEC Award
Public SEC orders protect a whistleblower’s identity while documenting the information, assistance, and procedural work that produced an award. Phillips & Cohen’s announcements identify Erika A. Kelton as counsel in several of those matters.
What the Order Leaves Public
The SEC whistleblower program permits a claimant to proceed anonymously through counsel. The agency receives the tip, while the lawyer verifies the claimant’s identity and retains the signed certification required by the rules. Before payment, the claimant must disclose identity directly to the SEC and complete the program’s verification process.
Public award orders can describe the sequence of the tip, the usefulness of the information, the claimant’s assistance, and the connection to a successful enforcement action while redacting names, companies, investigations, and other identifying facts.
Kelton’s published matters can be traced by reading the anonymous SEC order beside Phillips & Cohen’s client announcement. The agency record establishes the award and the claimant’s contribution; the firm identifies Kelton as counsel.
A Major Award for an International Whistleblower
In September 2014, the SEC announced an expected award of more than $30 million to a whistleblower living outside the United States. The final order placed the award between $30 million and $35 million, based on sanctions collected in an SEC action and related actions.
The Commission found that the claimant voluntarily supplied original information about an ongoing fraud that was difficult to detect and provided assistance that led to successful enforcement. It also confirmed that residence abroad did not disqualify a claimant when the information produced a United States SEC action enforcing United States securities law.
Phillips & Cohen identified the anonymous foreign claimant as its client and Kelton as counsel. A tip submitted from outside the country can qualify when it leads to covered United States enforcement.
Two Claimants and a Related Action
A January 2022 SEC release announced approximately $37 million for two joint whistleblowers. The agency found that they supplied key evidence, helped staff understand the record and locate additional information, and continued assisting as the investigation progressed.
The order covered both the SEC action and another agency’s related action based on the same original information. It treated the applicants as joint claimants and directed an equal division unless they jointly requested another allocation.
Phillips & Cohen stated that the two unnamed recipients were international clients of the firm and that Kelton represented them. The award illustrates the need to preserve the connection between one body of original information and enforcement by more than one authority.
A $3.7 Million Award and a Protected Submission
A June 2024 order concerned a tip that significantly contributed to an existing SEC examination. The information supplied new and helpful facts, prompted additional requests to the respondent, supported a referral and findings, and led to continued assistance and a voluntary interview. The claimant received a 23 percent award, later identified by Phillips & Cohen as approximately $3.7 million.
The submission also presented a privilege issue. Some attachments were marked privileged and confidential, so the SEC’s Office of Market Intelligence sequestered the material for review. Examination staff received the claimant’s substantive responses without reviewing the protected attachments, and later worked from a version with those attachments redacted.
Phillips & Cohen identified the recipient as its client and Kelton as counsel. Counsel preserved the usefulness of the tip while keeping sensitive supporting material confidential.
The Submission Through Counsel
Anonymous filing places counsel inside the program’s formal process from the first submission. The attorney verifies identity, retains the claimant’s signed declaration, communicates with the agency, and helps organize the facts and supporting material without exposing the client publicly.
After a successful covered action, a public notice opens the period for an award claim. Counsel then connects the original information to the enforcement result, documents the claimant’s assistance, and, where appropriate, establishes the relationship between the SEC action and another authority’s related action.
Across Kelton’s published matters, the work includes international eligibility, joint claims, related actions, continuing agency assistance, anonymous filing, and protection of privileged material.
A Practice Built Around Confidentiality
Kelton is a partner at Phillips & Cohen and leads the firm’s work for international whistleblowers. Her practice concerns the point at which confidential client knowledge must become a precise and usable agency submission without exposing the claimant.
Before entering the whistleblower field, Kelton practiced at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She earned her J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, served as an articles editor of the California Law Review, and teaches whistleblower law at New York University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Her work includes establishing international eligibility, connecting information to related actions, protecting privileged material, and documenting an award claim while the client remains anonymous.