2026 Sponsors

Advocate Level

ABOUT THE HONOREE AND HOST

Honoree

Dan Gallagher

Dan Gallagher is the Chief Legal, Compliance and Corporate Affairs Officer of Robinhood Markets, Inc. Before joining Robinhood, Dan was Partner and Deputy Chair of the Securities Department at international law firm WilmerHale where he advised corporate boards and management on the full range of legal and strategic issues, and counseled financial services and accounting firms in investigations, regulatory proceedings and policy matters.

Dan has an extensive background in financial markets and regulatory matters, including serving as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2011 to 2015. He held several other positions on the SEC staff prior to being appointed as a Commissioner, including deputy director and co-acting director of the division of trading and markets. Dan also previously served as the Chief Legal Officer at Mylan N.V., a leading global pharmaceutical company, President of Patomak Global Partners, a financial services consulting firm, and as General Counsel of Fiserv Securities. 

Dan currently serves as a board member of Cowboy Space Corporation, a company that is building a power grid in outer space for artificial intelligence, and on FINRA's Board of Governors. He also serves on several advisory boards, including the Institute for Law and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he is a non-resident fellow at the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, a fellow in Columbia Law School's Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets, and a member of the Board of Visitors at Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.

Dan was formerly a non-executive director of the Irish Stock Exchange and served on the boards of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and on the advisory board of the New Civil Liberties Alliance. He holds a J.D. from Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and a B.A. from Georgetown University.

George Carroll Whipple, III (Host)

Financial services, consulting, and media companies with pressing employment concerns go to attorney George Whipple to get the right answers quickly. With decades of experience leading the employment law departments of two internationally known investment banks, George sees his client’s policy challenges and employment disputes from their point of view.

His tactical and business-focused approach resolves highly contentious executive compensation, non-compete, and discrimination claims for a fraction of the cost. He also frequently conducts internal investigations of misconduct and discrimination claims and regulatory violations.

As human resource and in-house legal departments struggle to keep up with changing federal, local, and state laws, George provides concise compliance advice and actionable solutions. He has deep experience litigating hotly contested non-compete and executive compensation cases. That background enables him to develop clear terms in contract negotiations, non-competes, and severance agreements, all with an eye to avoiding future exposure. For busy executives and in-house teams, George provides a wide range of training and educational tools to avoid costly mistakes in hiring, promotions, investigations, terminations, and disciplinary actions. As host of Epstein Becker Green’s weekly Employment Law This Week® video series, he is the face of one of the country’s most innovative employment law education resources.

Earlier in his career, George was a Managing Director and Chairman of the Global Human Resources, Executive Compensation, and Employment Law Practice Group of a top 10 global financial services firm. Outside of his legal practice, George maintains an active media presence as a freelance entertainment and lifestyle commentator for "Whipple’s World," on NY1 News. In 2022, he won an Emmy Award along with his NY1 team for their coverage of On Stage Presents Broadway’s Revival. His photography has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Town and Country. George is a devoted philanthropist who dedicates significant time and resources to civic, environmental, and historic preservation movements in Putnam County, New York.