Michael Li-Ming Wong is a partner in both the San Francisco and Palo Alto offices of Gibson Dunn.  He is a member of the firm’s national Securities Enforcement, White Collar Defense and Investigations and Privacy, Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Practice Groups.  Michael focuses on white-collar criminal matters, complex civil litigation, data-privacy investigations and litigation, and internal investigations.  He has garnered numerous state and national honors, including the following:

• Euromoney’s Legal Media Group, “World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers” (April 2021)
• San Francisco Daily Journal and Los Angeles Daily Journal, “Top Defense Verdict of the Year” (February 2019)
• Law 360, “MVP of the Year” for 2018, Cybersecurity and Privacy (November 2018)
• San Francisco Daily Journal and Los Angeles Daily Journal, “Top Defense Verdict of the Year” (February 2018)
• The American Lawyer, National “Litigator of the Week” (December 2017)
• Law 360, “MVP of the Year” for 2014, Securities (December 2014)
• San Francisco Daily Journal and Los Angeles Daily Journal, “Top Defense Verdict of the Year” (February 2012)
• Recognized in The American Lawyer “Big Suits” column for trial results
• Thomson Reuters, Northern California “Super Lawyer” (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019)

Michael has tried more than twenty civil and criminal jury trials in federal and state courts, including five multi-week jury trials in recent years.  Three times the San Francisco Daily Journal and Los Angeles Daily Journal have recognized his trial and litigation victories as Top Defense Verdict of the Year in California.

Michael has also led numerous investigations across five continents.  He has represented many companies and individuals in enforcement matters, including those involving allegations of FCPA violations, pharmaceutical fraud, securities fraud, and trade secrets violations.

A Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), Michael assists clients with data-privacy counseling and litigation, including matters arising from data breaches and other cybersecurity matters involving law enforcement and governmental agencies.  He is lead counsel in numerous high-profile matters involving alleged data breaches.  Law360 recently honored Michael as national “MVP of the Year” in the Cybersecurity & Privacy category, and also featured Michael’s practice in recognizing Gibson Dunn as Cybersecurity & Privacy Practice Group of the Year for 2017 and 2018.

Michael maintains an active pro bono practice, including representations on behalf of immigrants and asylum seekers, victims of alleged police brutality during peaceful protests, indigent criminal defendants (including those convicted by non-unanimous juries), and advocacy organizations promoting Constitutional safeguards, including before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Michael served for more than eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, where he was lead counsel on some of the district’s most significant and high-profile matters.  During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, Michael served for several years as Chief of the White Collar Crimes Section, supervising investigations, prosecutions and trials involving white-collar fraud and public corruption.  Michael was also Chief of the Major Crimes Section.  He is a two-time winner of the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney.

Michael served as a law clerk to 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.  He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review.