Michael Yaeger is a litigator whose practice focuses on government investigations and cybersecurity matters, as well as related regulatory issues and civil litigation. His years prosecuting, defending, and litigating a wide range of white-collar and regulatory matters, both on trial and appeal, have given him deep experience managing risks that cross the boundaries between criminal, regulatory, and civil litigation. The combination of his government and private sector experience — prosecuting securities frauds and cybercrime in the government, and leading internal investigations and data incident response in the private sector — has provided him with a rare view of the privacy and data security issues related to criminal and regulatory investigations.
In private practice, Michael’s clients have mostly been institutions and individuals in heavily regulated sectors such as financial services and healthcare. He has led the response to dozens of data breaches. In particular, he has deep familiarity with breach response for registered investment advisers. Michael has also advised a wide range of financial services companies and healthcare institutions — including payments companies, banks, and academic medical centers — on their cybersecurity policies and related contracts.
From 2008 to 2014, Michael was an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) for the Eastern District of New York, where he investigated and prosecuted cases in the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the Criminal Division involving securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, bank fraud, intellectual property crimes, tax fraud, money laundering, health care fraud, False Claims Act cases, and Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act violations, including food safety violations. He served as his office’s co-coordinator for Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property crimes.
Michael clerked for the Hon. Samuel A. Alito, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (now a United States Supreme Court Justice), and the Hon. Milton Pollack, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
