People

Michael J. Leotta

Counsel

Leotta, Michael J.

Michael Leotta is a counsel in the Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group. He joined the firm in 2011. Mr. Leotta has more than 12 years of litigation experience, having worked as a federal prosecutor on the trial and appellate levels, as a White House lawyer, and in private practice.

Practice

Mr. Leotta conducts corporate internal investigations into potential violations of criminal law and company ethics policies, and represents companies facing federal grand jury investigations and Congressional document requests. He represents witnesses in FBI interviews and in preparation for trial testimony.

As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Leotta has investigated charges of fraud in government contracting and procurement, corruption in Congress and the executive branch, mortgage fraud, health-care fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement from federal programs, and numerous other federal offenses. In civil litigation, he has represented corporations involved in contract disputes, libel and defamation claims, employment actions, attorney-malpractice claims, and securities enforcement actions, among other matters.

Experience

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Leotta served in the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland for more than seven years, both as Appellate Chief and as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA). His career as an AUSA culminated in a detail to the White House Counsel’s Office as Deputy Associate Counsel.

As Appellate Chief, Mr. Leotta managed the appellate work of more than 70 AUSAs. He directed the briefing of hundreds of briefs in the Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals, trained AUSAs in appellate advocacy, and personally argued cases of particular significance to the US Attorney’s Office. He also served as the office’s Ethics Advisor.

Before becoming Appellate Chief, Mr. Leotta was a trial lawyer in the US Attorney’s Office’s Fraud and Public Corruption section.

During his detail to the White House Counsel’s Office, Mr. Leotta helped manage a team of 12 attorneys vetting President Obama’s executive branch nominees.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Leotta was a litigation associate at Williams & Connolly LLP, and served as a clerk to the Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Honors & Awards

  • Mr. Leotta is a 2011 recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his work on the Jack Abramoff investigation.
  • Mr. Leotta received the Department of Justice EOUSA Director’s Award for superior performance in 2008 for the RICO prosecution of a Maryland state senator and other individuals.
  • Mr. Leotta received the Skolnik Award from the US Attorney’s Office in 2007 for outstanding professionalism, determination and creativity in a case of unusual public significance.

Publications & News

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February 22, 2013

WilmerHale Attorneys Publish Article in Bloomberg BNA's White Collar Crime Report

An article entitled "You May Already Be a Government Agent: United States v. Carson And What Will Turn a Corporate Internal Investigation Into 'State Action'" by Michael Leotta and Haryle Kaldis, published in the February 22, 2013 edition of Bloomberg BNA's White Collar Crime Report.

August 1, 2004

Supreme Court Overrules the Nexus Requirement in 18 U.S.C. § 666

An article by Michael J. Leotta appearing in Business Crimes Bulletin, August 2004.

July 1, 2003

‘Theft or Bribery’: The Circuit Split Over the Federal Nexus Element

An article co-authored by Michael J. Leotta and Jefferson M. Gra, appearing in Business Crimes Bulletin, July 2003.

January 1, 1997

The Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Cross-Examination

An article co-authored by Michael J. Leotta and Charles R. Nesson, appearing in the 85th edition of Georgetown Law Journal, p. 1627, 1997.

Recent Highlights

Some recent highlights of Mr. Leotta’s practice include: 

  • Internal investigations of potential violations of federal criminal law and company ethics policies on behalf of an international entity;
  • An internal investigation of alleged federal criminal violations by the CEO of a hospital-management company;
  • An internal investigation of potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act at an international corporation;
  • Litigation on behalf of a Fortune 50 corporation facing a federal grand jury investigation;
  • Representation of a renewable energy company facing a Congressional document request relating to the Department of Energy loan-guarantee program;
  • Representation of a former senior aide to Senator John Edwards in a federal criminal trial; and
  • Representation of individual witnesses in federal criminal investigations.

Some highlights of Mr. Leotta’s career as a federal prosecutor include:

  • A trial stemming from Jack Abramoff's corruption of congressional offices and executive branch officials;
  • A RICO prosecution involving the bribery of a state senator;
  • A law-enforcement-corruption trial against Coast Guard petty officers assigned to drug-interdiction duty; and
  • A wire-fraud and obstruction-of-justice trial against a commercial mortgage lender.

Professional Activities

Mr. Leotta serves on the Board of Governors of the Federal Bar Association, Maryland Chapter. He is the Treasurer of the Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. Appellate Advocacy Fellowship, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to public service and appellate impact litigation. He has also served as the President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Maryland, and currently serves on its Board of Directors.

Practices

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Education

JD, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1997, Notes Editor, Harvard Law Review

BA, Psychology, summa cum laude, University of Maryland at College Park, 1994, Phi Beta Kappa

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia

Maryland

Clerkships

The Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1997 - 1998