PROFESSOR WILLIAMS PRESENTS HER CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT ON AUDITOR REGULATION AT THE 2024 NATIONAL BUSINESS LAW SCHOLARS CONFERENCE

September 2024 — Professor Sarah J. Williams attended the 2024 National Business Law Scholars Conference held at the UC Davis School of Law. While there, Professor Williams presented a draft of her current work-in-progress, Transparency Transition in Auditor Oversight.

Sarah J. WilliamsIn her presentation, Professor Williams analyzed the disclosure approach contemplated for public company auditors under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as the approach reflected in rule proposals made by the agency responsible for overseeing auditors, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Professor Williams’ work on this project continues the research she has developed regarding auditor regulation, and leverages her scholarship calling for additional transparency in the area of Congressional insider trading. Professor Williams was honored to have the opportunity to present her scholarship at the NBLS conference.


Sarah J. Williams is an Associate Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law with over 25 years of experience as a securities regulator. She has served as Deputy Director at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Commissioner’s Counsel and Enforcement Branch Chief at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Associate General Counsel at NASD (now FINRA). She previously authored The Alchemy of Effective Auditor Regulation, 25 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 1089 (2022), Regulatory Personhood: The Elixir for Redundancy Between the SEC and the PCAOB, forthcoming 97 St. John’s L. Rev. (2024), and Regulating Congressional Insider Trading: The Rotten Egg Approach, forthcoming 45 Cardozo Law Rev. (2024).