FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       98-99

        Paul Gonson, SEC'S Top Appellate Lawyer, Retires -- Will
                         Consult and Teach

     Washington, D.C., October 7, 1998 --  Paul Gonson, the
longtime Solicitor for the Securities and Exchange Commission,
announced today that he will retire at the end of the year.  At the
request of the SEC General Counsel, Harvey Goldschmid, Mr. Gonson
will be a part-time consultant to the agency.  He also plans to do
other consulting, write and teach law.

     Mr. Gonson joined the agency's staff in 1961.  As the
Commission's Solicitor since 1979, Mr. Gonson supervises its
appellate, amicus curiae, and defense litigation and has personally
argued more than one hundred appellate cases, including cases
before the U.S. Supreme Court and all of the U.S. Courts of Appeal.
He also oversees the Commission's ethical conduct system and
lawyers' professional discipline program.  Mr. Gonson has received
numerous awards, including the Securities and Exchange Commission's
highest awards; the Federal Bar Association's award for the top
lawyer in government -- the Justice Tom C. Clark award; and the
President's award for top executives in government -- the
Distinguished Executive Award -- presented personally to him by
President Bush.

     Mr. Gonson has written and lectured widely on securities law
and lawyers' professional responsibility.  For many years he has
taught courses, as an adjunct professor, at the American University
and Georgetown law schools in Washington, D.C.  At the Commission,
he has overseen continuing education for the staff and organized a
comprehensive nine-month long course in securities law presented to
more than 1000 staffers.   He participates in the work of several
American Bar Association committees.

     Over the years, Mr. Gonson has been a member of U.S.
Government delegations of senior government and private sector
attorneys to foreign countries.  Last fall, he was one of five
international experts from the United States, Japan and Hong Kong
who traveled to China to advise high ranking officials on the
drafting of a national securities law for China.  He has made two
more recent trips to Russia as part of a delegation of senior SEC
officials to provide advice to government authorities on regulation
of Russia's securities markets.

     SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt said, "A lawyer's lawyer for more
than a quarter-century, Paul has personally made a major impact on
the development of the securities laws for the protection of
investors.  He is a national treasure.   I have valued his advice
and judgment on a broad range of topics.  Paul's retirement is a
great loss to the Commission, but I am pleased that he has agreed
to be a consultant so that we may continue to rely on his sage
counsel."

     In announcing his plans to leave the Commission, Mr. Gonson
said, "I love this agency and am grateful for having had a
fulfilling career doing important work to help investors, in a
collegial setting of extraordinarily talented and dedicated people.
Although I am leaving after 37 years, I like to think of it as semi-
retirement, keeping my hand in the work of the Commission.  My hope
is to work and teach for about half the time and see my grandkids a
lot and get out in the woods and in my kayak."
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