January 22, 2024
New York, NY, January 22, 2024 -- Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP today announced that Michael Li-Ming Wong has joined the Firm as a partner in the Litigation Department, and as Co-Chair of the firm’s national White-Collar Defense Group. He is based in the Firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices. Michael is a prominent litigator who focuses his practice on white-collar criminal matters, complex civil litigation, data privacy matters, and internal investigations. The former Chief of White Collar Crimes at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, and a former clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he has been recognized twice by the U.S. Department of Justice with a Director’s Award for Superior Performance.
“Michael is a talented litigator with deep experience and a successful track record guiding clients through high-stakes white collar, civil litigation, privacy and investigations matters,” said Simona Agnolucci, who serves as managing partner of the San Francisco office with Benedict Hur. “He’s a significant asset to our growing Bay Area litigation team and we are thrilled to welcome him to Willkie,” added Benedict.
Michael has tried more than 20 civil and criminal jury trials in federal and state courts, including several multi-week jury trials in recent years. He has led global investigations and enforcement matters, including those involving allegations of FCPA violations, fraud and trade secrets violations, and has served as lead counsel in numerous high-profile matters involving alleged data breaches. Michael has been recognized as a leading attorney in his field with national and regional accolades from legal media and directories for his work. He was most recently a partner at Gibson Dunn.
Prior to entering private practice, Michael was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, where he served for several years as Chief of the White Collar Crimes Section, and Chief of the Major Crimes Section. He is a two-time winner of the DOJ Director’s Award for Superior Performance. Earlier in his career, he served as a law clerk to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court, and to Judge José A. Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Michael commented: “Willkie has an unparalleled reputation when it comes to high-stakes litigation and investigations, a dynamic Bay Area litigation team and truly collaborative firm culture. I’m excited to be a part of that and look forward to leveraging my experience to advise our clients on critical litigation matters, including in emerging areas of the law.”
Michael’s arrival follows the addition of former Google regulatory and litigation counsel Michael Rome, who joined Willkie’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices as a partner in November.
Willkie’s California presence has grown over the past several years to approximately 140 attorneys in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Los Angeles who service clients across the region and around the globe, aligned with Willkie’s broad litigation, transactional and private client platforms. The approximately 60 attorneys in Willkie’s Bay Area offices regularly represent global technology companies and private equity sponsors in complex litigation, M&A and technology transactions, and other business combinations.
Willkie’s Litigation Department has a national and international practice representing major U.S. and non-U.S. financial services companies, accounting firms, insurance and reinsurance companies and brokers, media companies, and individuals in complex commercial and class-action litigation. The team has extensive experience conducting internal corporate investigations and handling internal corporate matters. We also regularly represent companies and individuals in investigative and enforcement proceedings brought by federal and state regulatory agencies.
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Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP provides leading-edge legal solutions on complex, business critical issues spanning markets and industries. Our approximately 1,200 attorneys across 13 offices worldwide deliver innovative, pragmatic and sophisticated legal services across approximately 45 practice areas. Learn more at www.willkie.com.
