The Securities and Exchange today announced that Dean C. Metry has been named the agency’s Chief Administrative Law Judge.

Judge Metry will lead the SEC’s impartial Office of Administrative Law Judges that conducts hearings and issues initial decisions in administrative proceedings before the agency. Judge Metry succeeds James E. Grimes, who served for eight years with the agency, including his last as the SEC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge.

Judge Metry has been a federal Administrative Law Judge for over 22 years, most recently as Associate Chief Judge of the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, a position he held since August 2020. Prior to that, Judge Metry served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

He began his career with the Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, where he served from 1980-1984 as trial counsel and summary courts martial officer for various commands including Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Naval Station Seattle, and the USS Cape Cod.

Judge Metry graduated cum laude with honors in 1977 from Central Michigan University, and he graduated with honors from Wayne State University Law School in 1979.