Michael Kendall represents corporations and individuals in criminal and civil matters. He has a national trial practice, and his cases often involve multi-jurisdictional disputes or have international dimensions. He has won 10 of his last 12 trials and arbitrations. Separately, the government unilaterally dismissed three cases against his clients before trial following the exposure of government misconduct. His trials have involved a wide range of disputes, including White Collar, Antitrust, Intellectual Property, Trust, Fiduciary Duty and other issues. In recent trials, Michael defended clients in some of the Department of Justice’s most significant prosecutions, including international banks and their traders who participated in the global Foreign Exchange (“FX”) Markets; executives of an opioid manufacturer; and the Varsity Blues college admissions case.
In Varsity Blues, his client was convicted at trial but all of the fraud and bribery counts were reversed by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and dismissed. This decision has substantially curtailed the Department of Justice’s use of the honest services and wire fraud statutes.
In the FX prosecution, several international banks pled guilty and paid over $10 billion in fines and settlements to resolve charges that they had fixed global FX rates. Michael defended the lead London FX trader who had participated in the so-called “Cartel” chatroom. A jury in the Southern District of New York acquitted his client in less than five hours of deliberations. When a second U.S. regulator initiated a follow-on prosecution based on the same allegations, Michael exposed substantial government misconduct, forcing the agency to unilaterally dismiss the second case prior to trial.
Michael represented a global dialysis provider in civil litigation over representations and warranties in a healthcare M&A deal. Michael exposed the counterparty’s $1.9 billion Ponzi scheme, which resulted in criminal prosecutions and fraud convictions of its CEO, two board members, and seven senior executives.
Michael also counsels boards and companies on crisis management and conducts international investigations. He has represented clients in investigations and multi-jurisdictional litigation against the DOJ, SEC, Office of Comptroller of the Currency, state Attorney Generals, class- action plaintiffs, and numerous foreign governments. He has a substantial pro bono practice vindicating people who have been wrongfully convicted.
Chambers has consistently ranked Michael in Band 1 and described him as a “superlative trial lawyer and tactician in complex white-collar cases” who “takes the time to understand what the client wants to achieve and achieves it on time and budget.” Legal 500 described his clients as remarking: “Michael Kendall is a trial lawyer who is second to none,” and he “stands out for his healthcare sector work, as well as for his knowledge of matters sitting at the nexus of antitrust and securities law.”
Preceding his 27 years in private practice, Michael worked for seven years for the DOJ as an Assistant US Attorney in the District of Massachusetts. He prosecuted cases involving public corruption, organized crime, and drug trafficking. He also served on the Attorney General’s staff as a Deputy Associate Attorney General and Counselor.
Updated Sep 2023
