As Chief Hearing Officer, David M. FitzGerald presides as an impartial initial adjudicator of disciplinary charges brought by the Division of Enforcement and Investigations against registered public accounting firms and persons associated with those firms, as well as certain proceedings involving applications for registration. Mr. FitzGerald joined the PCAOB in January 2009.

Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Hearing Officer at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In that role, he managed the FINRA Office of Hearing Officers and adjudicated disciplinary actions brought by FINRA against securities brokerage firms and their associated brokers.

Before joining FINRA (then called NASD) in 1997, Mr. FitzGerald served as Senior Counsel in the Professional Liability Section, Office of General Counsel, of the Resolution Trust Corporation, and Counsel in the Professional Liability Section at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In these positions, he was responsible for overseeing the investigation and litigation of claims against officers, directors, attorneys and auditors of failed federally insured banks and thrifts.

Earlier in his career, Mr. FitzGerald was Assistant Director for Litigation in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and practiced as an associate in the Detroit Law firm of Dykema Gossett. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles L. Levin on the Michigan Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

He earned an A.B., cum laude, at Boston College, and a J.D., cum laude, at the University of Michigan.