Michael F. Buchanan is a litigation partner at Patterson Belknap, focusing his practice on white-collar defense and investigations, cybersecurity, and patent litigation. He has been recognized by Chambers USA in the area of white-collar crime and government investigations. Clients quoted in Chambers praised him for bringing “great legal acumen to the table in a very practical matter.” They add, "Michael is attentive to detail, focused on issues, and is thoughtful about them." His white-collar representations have involved allegations of securities fraud, insider trading, violations of the FCPA, tax fraud, accounting fraud, health care and Medicare/Medicaid fraud, and theft of trade secrets. He served on the Monitoring Team for the Newark Police Department, responsible for overseeing the NPD's compliance with a Consent Decree issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A skilled trial lawyer, Michael has tried several complex civil and criminal cases to verdict, including several complex federal patent trials and international arbitrations on behalf of major pharmaceutical companies. He has also argued multiple federal appeals. Michael regularly represents public and private companies in the financial services, healthcare, and e-commerce industries on a variety of issues relating to data breaches and cybersecurity, including incident response and investigation and related litigation.
Michael spent over nine years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where he investigated and prosecuted matters involving the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, insider trading, the FCPA, health care kickbacks, off-label marketing, and Medicare/Medicaid and private insurance fraud. He was involved in some of the Office's most significant and high-profile prosecutions. During his tenure, Michael served as Chief of the Securities and Health Care Fraud Unit, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and Chief of the Terrorism Unit.
Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Michael practiced at one of New York City's top white-collar criminal defense law firms and served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. Franklin S. Van Antwerpen, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Michael also served as a law clerk at a premier intellectual property law firm where he participated in all aspects of the firm's patent litigation and prosecution practice. Michael previously worked as a structural engineer at Grumman Aerospace.
Michael has spoken before various professional organizations on topics including criminal investigations in securities fraud, as well as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He has published articles on white collar and intellectual property issues. Michael writes frequently on privacy and data security issues. He has participated in a number of seminars, including the Rutgers Institution for Professional Education’s “Data Breach: Legal Responsibilities and Ramifications,” and The Law Firm Cyber Risk Conference, regarding data breaches, notification issues, and incident response strategies.
Michael received his J.D., cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School and his B.S. from Columbia University.
