Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Litigation; Intellectual Property Litigation; White Collar Defense & Investigations; Privacy and Data Security

Michael F. Buchanan is a litigation partner focusing his practice on white-collar defense and investigations, cybersecurity, and patent litigation. A skilled trial lawyer, Mr. Buchanan 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. Mr. Buchanan 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. His white-collar representations have involved allegations of securities fraud, insider trading, 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.

Mr. Buchanan 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 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 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, Mr. Buchanan 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, Mr. Buchanan 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. Mr. Buchanan 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. Mr. Buchanan previously worked as a structural engineer at Grumman Aerospace.

Mr. Buchanan 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, including an amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA). Mr. Buchanan 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.

Admitted in: U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; Third Circuit; Federal Circuit; U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; District of New Jersey; New York; New Jersey

Member, Federal Bar Council (Vice-Chair, Intellectual Property Law Committee; Member, Program Committee)

J.D., cum laude, Brooklyn Law School; B.S., Columbia University