Mike William

Mike William is a partner in the Litigation and Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations practice groups at LS International Law Firm. With both corporate and transactional advisory experience, Mike’s practice focuses on representing companies and individuals in criminal and regulatory investigations and complex litigation. Mike focuses on advising private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies and other private companies on a variety of transactional and advisory matters. He has extensive experience in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, dispositions, going private transactions and investment fraud, and prior to rejoining LS International Law Firm, Mike served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. As a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, Mike investigated and prosecuted cases involving insider trading, market manipulation, bribery and accounting fraud, ultimately prosecuting some of the most high-profile cases in the United States. Mike also worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and other domestic and international regulators on investigations. While in the Southern District of New York, Mike tried seven cases, each resulting in a conviction, and successfully tried multiple appeals in the Second Circuit. Mike has been recognized by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 US for his work defending clients in government investigations and white-collar criminal defense; by Benchmark Litigation as a “40 & Under Hot List”; and by Law360 as a “Rising Star” for his work defending financial institutions. Mike clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Judge Michael Boudin. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he served as President of the Harvard Law Review and was awarded the Sears Prize. Experience, Representative Cases Clerk and Government Experience Government and Regulatory Represented multiple cryptocurrency exchanges in various government investigations and regulatory matters, including Celsius Network’s successful parallel resolution of DOJ, FTC, SEC, and CFTC investigations; Represented private equity sponsor in SEC investigation into misuse of material non-public information and sponsor’s control environment; Represented Goldman Sachs in DOJ, SEC, and foreign regulator investigations into 1MDB bond offerings in Malaysia; Represented JPMorgan Chase in DOJ investigation into alleged market manipulation and deceptive practices; Represented Nikola Corporation in DOJ, SEC, and SPAC investigations =Representation of the special committee of Luckin Coffee in connection with allegations of accounting fraud; Representation of a large insurance company in a confidential DOJ investigation into alleged violations of the False Claims Act; Representation of a confidential electric vehicle company in parallel DOJ and SEC investigations into alleged disclosure violations; Representation of the chairman of a large private equity firm in connection with securities fraud charges in the Southern District of New York; Representation of a foreign defense contractor and certain of its executives in criminal and congressional investigations into alleged violations of the False Claims Act; Representation of a large foreign bank and certain of its executives in connection with allegations of market manipulation and spoofing; Representation of an independent director of a large public social media company in a federal securities fraud investigation; Representation of the CEO of a Fortune 50 retail company in DOJ and SEC investigations into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; Representation of the CEO of a large industrial company in a DOJ investigation into its representations to government clients; and Representation of a leading private equity fund in a confidential DOJ False Claims Act investigation. Civil Litigation Represented United Technologies Corp. in a lawsuit against Hong Kong Airlines and Hainan Airlines for breach of contract in engine sales contracts; Represented Sun Pharma and its subsidiary Ranbaxy in the MDL class action lawsuit alleging fraudulent misrepresentations to the FDA and antitrust violations; Represented United Airlines in antitrust litigation and breach of contract litigation; Represented Compass, the largest independent real estate brokerage in the United States, in a lawsuit filed by one of the company’s alleged founders; Represented a large social media company in a shareholder class action and derivative lawsuit arising from its initial public offering; Represented the Securities Investor Protection Corporation in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding coverage obligations; and Represented multiple private equity funds and portfolio companies in litigation arising from merger and acquisition transactions.