Michael Cypers is a partner in the firm's Litigation Group. He is an experienced trial lawyer focusing on complex financial cases such as securities, corporate, partnership and fiduciary disputes, and class actions. He has practiced in Los Angeles for 30 years, and his practice is national in scope, with several international clients.
Michael's trials involve primarily investment,financial, securities and corporate governance issues. In the Los Angeles Superior Court, he represented a private equity fund that rescinded investment contracts. At the conclusion of a hotly contested trial, the court affirmed the rescission and ordered that the fund be repaid its initial investment with interest and that it be relieved of all further obligations to finance the projects. It was named a "Top High Impact Verdict" in California in 2010 by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
Michael has tried four financial statement cases to juries in California and Arizona on behalf of auditors, successfully. One was a seven-month class action trial alleging securities fraud, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to commit fraud seeking $1 billion. The trial resulted in a defense verdict for the client.
In addition to his high-profile trial experience, Michael has extensive experience representing companies and individuals before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and he has been involved in a number of internal investigations on behalf of major corporate clients. He regularly counsels companies and boards on corporate governance and litigation exposure matters, and he frequently defends and counsels insurers on significant litigation risks.
Michael has for the past 12 years been an adjunct professor of law at Berkeley Law School at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where he teaches corporate governance and has taught securities litigation and advanced civil litigation.
Michael has been named to the "Los Angeles Super Lawyers" list since 2007, and to the "The Best Lawyers in America" for the categories of Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation.
Recent experience:
- Involved in securities litigation matters relating to Enron, Cendant, McKesson and Sprint.
- Represented private equity firm in successfully removing managing partner of multiple New York properties for misconduct.
- Represented private equity firm in successfully securing rights to solar energy projects in Canada.
- Represented venture capital firm in removal of a founding partner.
- Represent public pension in dispute with major Wall Street securities firm.
- Represented public pension in recovery from hedge fund involved in commodities trades.
- Represented health insurer who proved on summary judgment that its insured committed fraud and that the insurer properly rescinded the policy.
- Defeated class certification on behalf of nationwide health insurer establishing that the proposed class representative was not a member of the class.