SEC Defense,
ESG Compliance & Shareholder Advocacy
OUR PRACTICE AREAS
We're here to help.
​
R|K Invest Law, PBC is a law firm organized as a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation. We serve as advocates on behalf of shareholders, as counsel for investment advisers, and provide securities law regulatory defense. We offer legal services that advance social and environmental justice and promote diversity and balance in corporate governance, and work to develop frameworks that promote responsible investing for positive impact.
​
We help companies navigate the securities laws as they develop, including the marketing of products using blockchain technology. We provide regulatory advice, SEC/FINRA compliance counseling and enforcement defense to investment funds, broker-dealers, family offices, investment advisers and other investment institutions and institutional investors. We also serve as advocates for clients seeking to develop regulators' understanding of technological advancements and their relationship to legal developments.
MEET THE TEAM
We have the knowledge and experience to meet and exceed your expectations.
Richard A. Kirby
Shareholder
Rick Kirby resolves complex corporate, securities, commercial, SIPC, bankruptcy and administrative law issues through negotiation, alternative dispute resolution and litigation. With over three decades of experience, Mr. Kirby has represented clients in SEC, Justice Department, state and self-regulatory organization enforcement investigations.
Mr. Kirby represents defendants in parallel private securities fraud and derivative actions. He has participated on behalf of clients in most of the major recent broker-dealer liquidations under the Securities Investor Protection Act, including Lehman Bros. and Bernard L. Madoff Investments Securities, LLC, where he represents claimants as well as those defending clawback claims by the liquidation trustee.
​
He has represented fraud victims in prior Ponzi schemes, where he organized creditors in the Bayou Group fraud, and successfully oversaw the recovery of substantial amounts for the victims. He also represents clients in defending SEC fraud and market manipulation investigations, insider trading and violations of SEC securities offerings rules.
​
In addition to his SEC litigation practice, Mr. Kirby consults on risk management in connection with transactions in cryptocurrencies, including ICOs.
Prior to co-founding R|K Invest Law, PBC, Mr. Kirby served in the Office of the General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC where he briefed and argued more than 50 major securities cases on all aspects of the federal securities laws. At the SEC he concentrated on issues involving SEC law enforcement efforts to obtain ancillary equitable relief through receiverships and disgorgement. In addition, he oversaw all SEC participation in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
Before joining the SEC, Mr. Kirby served as an attorney in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corp. Following government service, Mr. Kirby has been in private practice, including as a partner at the top global law firms of Baker McKenzie and K&L Gates.
​
Mr. Kirby holds a Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he served as a member of the law review, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University. He is admitted to practice before the Maryland Court of Appeals the District of Columbia, the United States Supreme Court, and most United States Courts of Appeals.
​
Growing up in a Foreign Service family, Mr. Kirby was born in Paris and grew up around the world, including in Toronto, Brussels, Benghazi and Hong Kong. He currently splits his time between Washington, DC, Portland, Oregon and Tel Aviv.
Beth-ann Roth
Shareholder
Beth-ann (Batya) Roth is a JD/MBA and experienced general counsel, corporate secretary, board member and entrepreneur with expertise in investment management, impact/sustainable investing, operations compliance and 501(c)(3) organizations. She has additional industry expertise in the wine and natural foods sectors, and helps devise strategy, evaluate risk and solve conflicts to achieve business and financial objectives.
​
Ms. Roth has extensive experience in securities and investment management law, corporate governance and impact investing. She has represented clients before the SEC and state securities regulators, and has provided legal, operations and compliance guidance to funds, investment advisers, broker-dealers, transfer agents, economic development organizations and their service providers. She has assisted clients with a full range of services, including organization, fund formation, registrations, compliance program development and maintenance, SEC inspections, mergers and reorganizations, and is knowledgeable about disclosure relating to investments spanning a variety of asset-classes, including equity, fixed-income, and cryptocurrencies.
Prior to co-founding R|K Invest Law, PBC, Ms. Roth served on the staff of the SEC, as Associate General Counsel of Calvert Investments, and as Deputy General Counsel of an international financial development organization. She was a member of the Investment Funds and Investment Companies practice group at Dechert, LLP, one of the world’s largest investment fund practices, and held positions at other AmLaw 100 and boutique law firms. Ms. Roth has also been an Associate Professor at George Washington University Law School, and a registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill.
​
Ms. Roth received her JD with highest honors from Nova Southeastern University, where she served as Executive Editor of the Nova Law Journal. She holds both an MA and an MBA from Columbia University, and a BA from Douglass College of Rutgers University. She earned a certificate in Blockchain Technologies from the MIT Sloan School of Management Executive Program, and completed post- graduate courses in international economic development, tax-exempt organizations and private fund law at Georgetown University.
​
Ms. Roth completed a year abroad at Tel Aviv University, where her courses included Israeli Constitutional Law and Legal Aspects of the Arab-Israeli Conflict under the tutelage of Professor Amos Shapira. During the 1973 Yom Kippur war she served in an army entertainment group.
​
Ms. Roth is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Florida, the District of Columbia, the United States Supreme Court, and five United States Courts of Appeals.