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© 2012 Dorsey & Whitney LLP

  • Dorsey Partner of the Year
  • Named a Minnesota Super Lawyer
  • Top 40 Criminal Defense Attorneys, Who’s Who in Criminal Defense
  • Minnesota State Bar Association, Elmer H. Walshauser Author’s Award
  • Department of Justice Director’s Award for Outstanding Performance

  • Nova University School of Law (J.D., 1985)
  • Gustavus Adolphus College (1982)

  • Minnesota
  • Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. Army Court of Military Review

William Michael Jr.

Partner
Minneapolis
P: (612) 492-6753
F: (612) 340-2868
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Bill is a Co-Chair of the White Collar Crime and Civil Fraud practice group. He is an experienced trial attorney with more than 100 jury trials in state and federal courts focusing on complex federal white collar and regulatory defense, civil and criminal health care fraud, anti-trust 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
  • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Among his other interests, Bill is an accomplished ultra-marathoner and enjoys participating in multi-day endurance events.

Representative Work

Representative Trial Experience

More than 70 jury trials in United States District Courts around the country; including:
  • Insider trading (client was former CEO of a software replication company); 
  • Revenue recognition securities fraud (client was former CFO and acquitted of all securities fraud counts after a 4-week trial);
  • Money laundering and wire fraud (client was a former CEO and was acquitted of all charges after a 3-week trial); 
  • Environmental offenses (corporate client acquitted of environmental offenses after a 1-week trial); 
  • Health care fraud (client was the national sales director of a medical device company. After 7 weeks of trial, including 60 government witnesses, the government voluntarily dismissed all charges); 
  • Money laundering and gambling (client received probation at sentencing); 
  • Arms Export Control Act (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Health care fraud (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Financial institution fraud (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Bankruptcy fraud (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Tax evasion and Klein conspiracy (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Wire taps in drug conspiracies (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Bank robberies (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Mail and wire fraud (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Firearm offenses (as Assistant U.S. Attorney); 
  • Narcotics offenses (as Assistant U.S. Attorney).

Bill served as an instructor in trial advocacy skills to Department of Justice attorneys at the National Advocacy Center and currently teaches trial skills to all associates at the firm.

Selected Completed Representations
  • Represented a former CEO of a pharmaceutical company on channel stuffing and $300 million securities fraud charges. CEO cooperated with DOJ and SEC and received a sentence of 6 months home confinement (Western District of North Carolina); 
  • Represented a hedge fund in a suit brought by off-shore investors. The case was dismissed upon our motion (District of Minnesota); 
  • Represented a former CFO in an indemnification suit against a communications company. The client was awarded more than $1.5 million upon summary judgment (Utah state court); 
  • Represented a life insurance company in an investigation into a $183 million STOLI fraud scheme (Eastern District of New York); 
  • Represented a public company that operated 84 skilled nursing facilities in a DOJ health care fraud investigation, which included the execution of seven simultaneous search warrants at various facilities (Central District of California); 
  • Represented an owner and sole proprietorship company charged with E-rate fraud. The company pled guilty and immediately closed business and the owner had all charges dismissed (District of North Dakota); 
  • Represented a school board member under investigation for corruption (Northern District of Illinois); 
  • Represented an officer of a company in a bid-rigging anti-trust investigation. Received a declination of prosecution (Philadelphia Field Office of DOJ Anti-trust); 
  • Represented the senior American officer of a Canadian packaged ice company in a DOJ Anti-trust investigation. The officer pled guilty to market allocation violations and received a sentence of 6 months home confinement (Cleveland Field Office of DOJ Anti-trust and Southern District of Ohio).

Prior Department of Justice Experience
  • Served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, including as a Deputy Chief and head of a branch office;
  • Served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Minnesota;
  • Served as the Terrorism Coordinator and the National & International Security Coordinator.

Prior Military Experience
  • Served with the 82nd Airborne Division as a judge advocate;
  • Became the second Army lawyer to ever graduate from Special Forces Officer Qualification Course (earning a Green Beret);
  • Served as a judge advocate with 7th Special Forces Group advising on law of war issues and counter-narcotics missions;
  • Served in the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Office conducting oversight on Special Access Programs (“black ops”) and resolved a classified investigation into all Army Special Access Programs;
  • Served as a Detachment Commander of a Special Forces “A” Team with 11th Special Forces Group conducting counter-narcotics missions.

Presentations

Bill speaks nationwide in areas of health care fraud, financial investigations, crisis management and internal investigations. Additionally, he teaches attorneys, investigators and executives on the proper techniques to use in handling various criminal and regulatory matters, and has served as a frequent media commentator on a variety of issues, including those related to terrorism, internal investigations and complex federal investigations.
  • “Trial Advocacy, Parts 1 and 2” (2011)“
  • Global Bribery Risks: Complying with the FCPA and Other Anti-Bribery Laws” (2010)
  • “Crisis Management” (2010)
  • “Criminal & Administrative Investigations” (2010)
  • “Internal Investigations” (2010)
  • “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” (2010)
  • “Privacy and Data Breach Update” (2010)
  • “Government and Regulatory Investigations” (2010)
  • “Corporate Investigations: A Balancing Act of Various Risks,” (2010)
  • “FCPA: Is Your Compliance Program Aligned with Your Company’s Risks?” (2010)
  • “Trial Advocacy, Parts 1 and 2” (2010)
  • “Justice for Whom? The Untold Story of the Devastating Collateral Impacts of a Federal Criminal Prosecution Even if Acquitted” (2010)
  • “Hard-Core Anti-trust Violations: The Criminal Investigation/Prosecution Process and Civil Consequences” (2010)
  • “Trial Advocacy” (2010)
  • “Developments in Attorney Work Product Doctrine after Textron” (2009)
  • “Lawyers, Guns and Money: Current Status of Global and Domestic Corporate Fraud Investigations” (2009)
  • “Attorney Client Privilege: The Bane of In-house Counsel” (2009)
  • “The Russian Roulette of Talking (and other 5th Amendment Considerations)” (2009)
  • “Friend or Foe? The Defense Attorney’s Role in Health Care Fraud Investigations” (2009)
  • “Government Investigations: The Russian Roulette of Health Care” (2009)
  • “Ins and Outs of Government Investigations” (2009)
  • “Crisis Management – Management Both Prior to and During the Crisis” (2009)
  • “Trial Advocacy, Parts 1 and 2” (2009)
  • “United States Sentencing Guidelines” (2008)
  • “Crisis Management – A necessary skill-set for corporate executives today” (2008)
  • “Crisis Management – A skill set that every General Counsel must understand” (2008)
  • “Don’t Let a Disaster Become a Catastrophe – Crisis Management Prior to the Crisis” (2008)
  • “Internal Investigations” (2007)
  • “Factual Investigations” (2007)
  • “Best Practices in Corporate Leadership and Ethics” (2007)
  • “Democracy in an Age of Terror” (2007)
  • “Chiropractic Fraud: Detection, Investigation and Prosecution” (2006)
  • “The Defense Perspective on Winning Health Care Fraud Cases” (2005)
  • “Dealing with the Media in Crisis Situations - Tips and Strategies for Health Care Entities” (2005)
  • “Ten Top Things to Remember in the World of Compliance” (2005)
  • “The Prosecution of Unethical Corporate Cultures” (2005)
  • “Directors and Officers Coverage: Potentials and Pitfalls” (2005)
  • “Secrecy and Transparency” (2005)
  • “Ethics and Bias for Business Lawyers” (2005)
  • “Secrecy and Transparency” (2005)
  • “Overcoming Common Legal Defenses” (2005)
  • “Management & Director Liability for Producer Controlled Entities” (2005)
  • “Secrecy and Transparency” (2005)
  • “The Government’s Attempt to Change the Corporate Dress-Code from Pinstripes to Jail Stripes” (2005)
  • “Government Investigations - What to Do When the Federal Government Targets Your Client’s Company” (2004)
  • “Health Care Providers in the Media Spotlight - the Legal and Practical Implications” (2004)
  • “Overcoming Common Legal Defenses” (2004)
  • “Secrecy and Transparency: The Yin and Yang of Corporate Law” (2004)
  • “Ethics in a Case: Beginning to End” (2004)
  • “The Ethical and Practical Challenges of Representing Clients Under Investigation for Fraudulent or Criminal Activity” (2004)
  • “The Keys to an Effective Internal Compliance Investigation” (2004)

Attorney Articles

June 2010
"Extraterritorial Enforcement of US Laws" (by Lisa Osofsky, William Michael Jr. and Heather McCann), The Anti-Fraud Network
Spring 2010
"Ponzi Schemes: A Primer on the Recent Surge in Fraudulent Schemes" (by Heather McCann and William Michael Jr.), Dorsey & Whitney White Collar Crime Newsletter
2008
“Handling the Major Disaster: A Defense Lawyers’ Perspective,” Fifty-Fourth Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute
June 23, 2008
"Responding to Allegations of Corporate Misconduct," Thompson West's Andrews Litigation Reporter
May 11, 2008
Antitrust Leniency Program Still on Track after Stolt-Nielsen
February 2008
Antitrust Leniency Program Remains a Good Bet
December 10, 2007
Points to Consider When Investigating Misconduct Allegations
March 12, 2007
"Corporations Face a Hobson's Choice on Privilege Waivers," In-House Counsel supplement to Minnesota Lawyer
March 2007
"A Privilege in Jeopardy," Minnesota Lawyer
2004
"Internal Investigations," Association of Corporate Counsel
2004
"Responding to Governmental Investigations," American Corporate Counsel
February 2002
"Trying Terrorists Before Military Commissions," Minnesota Bench & Bar
November 2001
"A Window on Terrorism: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," Minnesota Bench & Bar
February, 2008
"To Cooperate or Not: The Corporate Leniency Program After Stolt-Nielsen"

News & Press Mentions

February 5, 2009
Michael: Exoneration for Steve Chicoine
April 11, 2008
Sarbanes-Oxley Auditing Requirements Erode Attorney-Client Privilege
November 28, 2007
Auditor Disclosures May Waive Confidentiality Privileges