Kimberly Hamm is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group and co-chairs the firm’s Congressional Investigations and Securities Enforcement practices. Kim draws on decades of public- and private-sector experience—including as General Counsel to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Chief Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—to advise companies, institutions, board members, and executives on congressional, federal, and state investigations, and related regulatory and policy matters.

“Kimberly understands our business needs better than any attorney we work with. She provides stellar service and is highly responsive.”
— Chambers USA

Kim is recognized by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer nationwide in Government Relations: Congressional Investigations, with clients praising her “sophisticated and nuanced approach to problem-solving.” She helps clients anticipate and respond to congressional investigations, including mitigating risk before an inquiry begins, responding to congressional demands and subpoenas, negotiating with committee counsel, preparing and representing witnesses in transcribed interviews and depositions, preparing executives for congressional hearings and testimony, and advising on congressional subpoena enforcement and related litigation. She counsels boards and senior management facing scrutiny from multiple congressional committees or simultaneous congressional, regulatory, litigation, and enforcement proceedings.

Kim brings an unusual combination of investigative, institutional, and litigation experience to the congressional investigations bar. She has overseen investigations from House leadership, conducted investigations in the Senate, advised congressional committees as institutional House counsel, and litigated congressional subpoena disputes.

As General Counsel to the Speaker of the House, Kim oversaw investigations across House committees and advised House leadership and committees on investigative strategy, subpoenas, criminal contempt of Congress proceedings, litigation, and other sensitive legal matters. Her experience provides first-hand insight into how political priorities shape a congressional investigation and she helps clients navigate committee demands strategically, often resolving disputes before they escalate to subpoenas, litigation, or other enforcement proceedings.

Earlier in her career, as Associate General Counsel in the House Office of General Counsel, Kim advised nearly every House committee on investigations and served as litigation counsel in federal court cases involving congressional subpoenas, investigative authority, and other institutional interests of the House. Her work was recognized on a bipartisan basis by House leadership, including her record defending the House’s oversight and investigative authority in federal court. Kim also served as Chief Counsel for Investigations for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, where she led the committee’s investigations.

As one client told Chambers USA, Kim’s “depth of experience with congressional investigations, including working inside Congress, offers a strategic advantage to her clients.”

Kim also brings significant regulatory experience to her practice. As Chief Counsel to the SEC Chairman, she advised on congressional oversight, enforcement and regulatory matters, major market events, financial stability, and significant agency initiatives. That experience informs her counsel to clients confronting matters where congressional scrutiny intersects with regulatory enforcement, policy, and litigation. Kim also previously led regulatory and policy advocacy for a leading global asset management firm.

Kim is a frequent author and commentator on congressional investigations and SEC enforcement. She co-authors Morrison Foerster’s Congressional Investigations Quarterly and the monthly Top 5 SEC Enforcement Developments newsletters and provides commentary on congressional and SEC developments to leading media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Politico.

Prior to joining MoFo, Kim led the congressional investigations practice at another major law firm. She began her legal career in the litigation department of an international law firm. Kim received her B.A. from the University of Florida and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Representative Matters

• Represented board members of a prominent political organization in depositions before multiple House committees.
  
• Represented a witness in a high-profile House committee investigation, including a transcribed interview subject to intense media scrutiny.
  
• Provided proactive congressional and federal agency risk-mitigation counseling to clients in the nonprofit, financial services, technology, and energy sectors.
  
• Represented a global fintech company in multiple House committee investigations, including subpoena responses and document productions.
  
• Represented a higher education institution in a multi-year House committee investigation.
  
• Represented a media services company in a congressional inquiry concerning a significant government contract.
  
• Counseled multiple companies preparing corporate executives for House and Senate testimony.
  
• Represented a prominent private equity firm in a Senate committee investigation concerning the healthcare industry.
  

• Advised a leading technology company in a sensitive House and Senate engagement.
  
• Represented a leading technology company in a House investigation concerning artificial intelligence.
  
• Counseled leading financial institutions in ESG-related congressional and state attorney general investigations.
  
• Represented a global insurer in a Senate committee investigation concerning climate risk.