Michael Leotta

Practice Areas

Michael Leotta conducts internal investigations and represents corporations and individuals in white collar criminal law and regulatory enforcement matters. He regularly represents US consumer banks, global correspondent banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and FinTech companies in a broad range of matters, including defending financial institutions’ compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering (AML) rules, securities law, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He represents clients in investigations and examinations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state prosecutors; domestic and international financial regulators such as the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Fed), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the New York Department of Financial Services, and the UK Financial Conduct Authority; state attorneys general; and Congressional committees.

Before joining WilmerHale in 2011, Mr. Leotta served for nine years in government, including in the White House Counsel's Office under President Barack Obama, as an Assistant US Attorney prosecuting fraud and public corruption, and as Appellate Chief and Ethics Advisor at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

Professional Memberships

Mr. Leotta currently serves as a national chair of the American Bar Association’s White Collar Crime Committee and as a co-chair of its Financial Institution Fraud/Money Laundering and Patriot Act Subcommittee. He is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Mr. Leotta has previously served on the Board of Governors of the Federal Bar Association, Maryland Chapter, as assistant treasurer to the campaign of Congressman John P. Sarbanes, as treasurer and board member of the Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. Appellate Advocacy Fellowship, Inc. (a nonprofit organization devoted to public service and appellate impact litigation), and as the president and board member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Maryland.

Personal

JD, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1997; BA, summa cum laude, Psychology, University of Maryland at College Park, 1994