Mayer Brown, a leading global law firm, announced today that William Michael, Jr. has joined the firm’s Chicago office as a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice and as a co-leader of the White Collar Defense & Compliance group. Previously, he was a partner at Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis, where he co-led that firm’s white collar crime and civil fraud group.
Mr. Michael is a highly experienced trial attorney, with more than 100 jury trials focusing on complex federal white collar and regulatory defense, civil and criminal health care fraud, antitrust and complex internal investigations. He represents both individuals and corporations in these matters, including: criminal antitrust, health care, securities fraud, criminal tax, qui tams, money laundering, conspiracy, environmental and FCPA.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Michael had a distinguished career in public service, including 10 years with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of Florida and the District of Minnesota. While with the DOJ, he was an instructor in trial advocacy skills at the National Advocacy Center. In addition, he served as a National & International Security Coordinator and Terrorism Coordinator with the DOJ. Mr. Michael also was a member of the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and served as a judge advocate, in addition to other roles in the Army.
“Bill is a seasoned litigator with a great track record in both private practice and as a former federal prosecutor,” said Andrew S. Marovitz, a co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice. “Litigation is a core strength of Mayer Brown’s Chicago office. Bill’s extensive trial experience and deep understanding of government investigations will further enhance our ability to provide clients with the highest standard of representation, particularly in the white collar arena.”
“Mayer Brown is one of the top litigation firms in the country, as demonstrated by its recent selection as a finalist for American Lawyer’s 2012 Litigation Department of the Year award,” Mr. Michael said. “The firm’s size, geographic scope and depth of resources will enable me to expand the range of services I can offer to clients in Minnesota while creating new opportunities to leverage my extensive trial experience to benefit the firm’s clients across a broad spectrum of practice areas.”
Mr. Michael joins litigators Vincent Connelly (Chicago), Kelly Kramer (Washington, DC) and Lynn Neils (New York) as a co-leader of the White Collar Defense & Compliance group.
“Bill has wide ranging courtroom experience in complex problems facing both corporate and individual clients, and we are delighted to have him join our firm and our practice area,” Mr. Connelly said.
A frequent speaker and author on health care fraud, financial investigations, crisis management and internal investigations, Mr. Michael earned a JD degree from Nova University School of Law and received an undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College.
