Deputy General Counsel Michael Stevenson Has Left the PCAOB

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced today that Michael Stevenson, deputy general counsel, has left the PCAOB after 15 years at the organization and more than 22 years in public service.

Mr. Stevenson was the PCAOB deputy general counsel since March 2007. He provided legal counsel in all areas of the PCAOB's regulatory responsibilities and supervised the work of other attorneys in the Office of General Counsel.

"Michael is highly regarded throughout the PCAOB for his years of wise counsel and his deep institutional knowledge," said PCAOB Chairman William D. Duhnke. "We are grateful for his service and wish him all the best."

Mr. Stevenson joined the PCAOB in 2003, and helped to develop many of the Board's foundational rules. He played a significant role in advising on all aspects of the PCAOB's inspection programs, including, among other things, advising on issues relating to international cooperation and leading the successful defense of each of the Board's negative quality control remediation determinations that were appealed. He advised extensively on enforcement and registration matters, and he also was the principal resource in the Office of General Counsel on auditor independence issues.

"It has been a privilege, and very professionally rewarding, to serve under several distinguished Board chairs, as well as two distinguished general counsels, and to work alongside so many people of integrity, talent, and commitment to a shared mission throughout the PCAOB," said Mr. Stevenson.

Mr. Stevenson began his legal career as a law clerk to the late Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and then as a litigation associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale). Before joining the PCAOB, he spent eight years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, including four years in the Division of Enforcement, and four years in the Legal Policy Group of the Office of General Counsel.

Mr. Stevenson graduated from Michigan State University's James Madison College with a degree in political theory. He received a J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School, where he was articles editor of the law review.