King & Spalding today announced that Brian R. Michael has joined the firm as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Michael is a white collar litigator with deep knowledge of the media and entertainment industry who was most recently deputy general counsel at 21st Century Fox and group chief compliance officer of the company’s Fox Networks Group, which is comprised of broadcast, cable, digital and sports media business operations worldwide.
Michael is a longtime litigator who has unique experience over nearly two decades serving as senior in-house counsel, as a federal prosecutor, and as a private practitioner on both coasts. Hired at 21st Century Fox in the midst of the UK phone-hacking crisis, Michael played a lead role in building, implementing and overseeing a global compliance program that was critical to the company’s successful navigation of the unprecedented situation. Prior to joining Fox, Michael practiced at WilmerHale in Los Angeles after having served for seven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, first in the Southern District of New York (2003-2005), and then in the Central District of California (2005-2010), during which he received numerous commendations for his handling of a number of significant cases. After law school, Michael clerked for former Chief Judge Gilbert S. Merritt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. Michael received his undergraduate degree with distinction from the University of California at Berkeley and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was an associate editor of the law review and elected to the Order of the Coif.
“Brian’s skills as a litigator and his experience as an assistant U.S. Attorney as well as an in-house lawyer at a pre-eminent public company will allow him to counsel clients on high-profile white collar and compliance matters at the national and global level,” said Wick Sollers, leader of the Special Matters & Government Investigations practice and managing partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. “We are excited to add Brian to our roster of talent and have him anchor our government investigations practice on the West Coast to help all clients, especially those in the media and entertainment industry.”
“No other firm offers the opportunity that King & Spalding provides me, and I’m excited to help grow the Special Matters practice on the West Coast and advise a broad array of clients,” Michael said. “The combination of the momentum of this practice, the growth in Los Angeles, the firm’s collaborative culture , and its track record of success over the past decade made King & Spalding the right next step for me. I am looking forward to working with my new colleagues across the firm.”
“Since 2011, the L.A. office has represented numerous high-profile companies and clients in the life science, media, transportation, manufacturing, energy and high-technology sectors,” said Peter Strotz, head of the Los Angeles office. “We have recently added lawyers with a focus on IP, healthcare, business litigation, tort and environmental to meet the growing needs of clients in California. We welcome Brian’s special matters expertise, which adds to the firm’s growing portfolio of capabilities in L.A.”
Last week, King & Spalding’s Special Matters & Government Investigations practice added former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Zach Fardon, who will open the firm’s new office in Chicago. Michael will join Joe Akrotirianakis and Aaron Craig, two recent laterals who started in the Los Angeles office in April.
King & Spalding’s award-winning Special Matters & Government Investigations practice is comprised of over 100 lawyers in 14 offices globally, making it one of the largest and most respected such practices in the world. The practice is dedicated to white collar criminal defense and related civil fraud litigation. The team has handled investigations before more than 70 of the 93 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the United States and every litigating division of the Justice Department. It also has appeared before the Securities Exchange Commission and all 12 of its Regional Offices, and handled multinational investigations involving approximately 80 countries. It proudly counts among its distinguished alumni Chris Wray, the most recently confirmed and current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The team has been nationally acclaimed as White Collar Practice Group of the Year in 2017 by Law360, among other recognitions.
Source: www.kslaw.com
