Finalist: David Chernek

General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer/ Corporate Secretary
Cascade Financial Services
Boston College

David Chernek is an accomplished lawyer, general counsel and senior executive leader with over 30 years of experience. Chernek is currently the general counsel and chief compliance officer at Cascade Financial Services, a specialized nationwide mortgage lender owned by funds advised by Centerbridge Partners. At Cascade, Chernek is responsible for the legal, secretarial, compliance, regulatory, internal audit, vendor management, licensing and quality control functions. Chernek has broad legal and operational experience, which includes change management, corporate governance, regulatory affairs, labor and employment advice, contract management, compliance systems, and the management of high-profile legal matters. Chernek previously spent 15 years in private practice at two prominent national law firms (Latham & Watkins and HellerEhrman) specializing in complex litigation, financial services and antitrust suits, including five years as a shareholder(Heller Ehrman). Chernek’s corporate experience priorto joiningCascade included positions as the head of litigation at IndymacBank and the general counsel at Prospect Mortgage.