Michael Bongiorno > WilmerHale > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices
7 WORLD TRADE CENTER
250 GREENWICH STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10007
NEW YORK
United States
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Michael Bongiorno
Work Department
Class Actions ; Commercial Litigation Cross-Border; Investigations and Compliance Investigations ; Life Sciences ; Litigation ; Securities Enforcement ; Securities Litigation ; Trials
Position
Partner
Co-Chair, Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice Group
Career
Michael Bongiorno concentrates his practice on securities litigation and enforcement matters. He has served as first-chair lead defense counsel and argued motions to dismiss in dozens of securities class action and derivative suits across the country. His clients have achieved dismissal in the vast majority of such matters. He is an experienced appellate advocate, having successfully argued for the affirmance of many dismissals of securities cases, including five in the past two years in the Second and First Circuits. His successful defense in such cases spans a variety of industries and jurisdictions, and he is a recognized leader in securities litigation and enforcement matters, particularly in matters against biotech, life science, biomaterials, medical device, and medical product companies, and has handled cases in many other industries and areas as well, including energy, construction, education, high tech, shipping, and retail.
His successful representations as lead defense counsel in securities class actions include the dismissal of cases against companies such as Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc., Renewable Energy Group, Inc., Synacor, Inc., Top Ships, Inc., Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., Assertio, Inc., Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc., Glencore PLC, Golar LNG, Limited, Electronics for Imaging, Inc., Solid Biosciences, Inc., Argos Therapeutics, Inc., Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc., LogicBio Therapeutics, Inc., Voyager Therapeutics, Inc., Apollo Education Group, Inc., Nabriva Therapeutics, PLC, ConforMIS, Inc., Britannia Bulk Holdings Inc., Optionable, Inc., DryShips Inc., InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., VeraSun Energy Corp., Technical Olympic, S.A., EDAP TMS, S.A., Medtronic, Inc., AtheroGenics, Inc., and many others.
Mr. Bongiorno also has extensive experience leading internal investigations and securities enforcement matters, including matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, various state securities regulators and FINRA. He regularly advises boards of directors and board committees with regard to disclosures, corporate governance issues, and matters related to litigation, enforcement, derivative and document demands, and crisis management.
Mr. Bongiorno has substantial trial experience in federal and state courts in various contexts. Trial successes include the successful defense of a company and its officers against fraud and other related claims in Massachusetts Superior Court (affirmed on appeal), the successful defense of a finance and investment company in Federal District Court in Boston against claims of breaches of fiduciary duty brought by a closely held corporation and a five-week trial in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York regarding corporate governance and fiduciary duty claims (resulting in an extraordinarily favorable settlement for his clients). He has tried more than 20 civil and criminal matters in his career in various tribunals, including federal and state court jury and bench trials, as well as AAA and FINRA arbitrations.
Memberships
- New York
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
Education
JD, Harvard Law School, 1991
AB, Dartmouth College, 1988
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
(Leading lawyers)WilmerHale’s deep bench of securities litigators and regulatory enforcement specialists is frequently involved in high-stakes matters involving securities laws and rules of corporate governance actively litigated by government agencies, regulatory bodies and private parties. The firm has a presence across the US, notably in its California, New York, Boston and Washington DC offices. Stephanie Avakian in DC is chair of the securities and financial services department. Michael Bongiorno in New York and DC-based Matthew Martens co-chair the securities litigation and enforcement group. Kevin Muck and Susan Muck in San Francisco represented AnaptysBio in a class action alleging that its officers made false and misleading statements regarding one of the its drugs, etokimab, and in a derivative suit claiming that the directors breached their fiduciary duties. Up-and-coming partner Timothy Perla in Boston worked with Bongiorno to defend IVERIC bio, Inc. in a class action alleging that the company issued deceptively positive results about the success and potential of its treatment Fovista despite knowing that the Phase 3 clinical trial of the drug would be unsuccessful in achieving its primary endpoint.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading lawyers United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Securities litigation: defense United States > Dispute resolution
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Antitrust > Cartel
- International Trade > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Government > Government contracts
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- International Trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Government > Government relations
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Environment > Environment: litigation