Michael B. de Leeuw

Michael B. de Leeuw is a litigation partner at the New York offices of the firm of Cozen O’Connor. 

Michael de Leeuw focuses his practice on complex litigation, including litigation involving securities, antitrust law, the First Amendment, defamation, mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy. Michael also advises clients on defamation and advertising issues.

Recent matters Michael has handled include representing Staples in litigation with the FTC relating to Staples’ proposed merger with Office Depot; defending a national organization in a high-profile defamation case in federal court in Mississippi; defending a major online poker company and its owners in a series of consumer class actions; defending directors in a major securities litigation in the Southern District of New York; defending the former CFO of a pharmaceutical company in a civil action brought by the SEC; representing a national government strategies firm in a AAA arbitration; representing hedge funds in several major bankruptcies. He has also been counsel of record in multiple U.S. Supreme Court cases, representing parties and amici curiae.

Michael is active in bar and civic organizations. He is on the board of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; he recently acted as co-chair of the ABA Antitrust Litigation Committee; and he is also an elected member of the Board of Education in Glen Ridge, N.J.

Michael earned his law degree from Rutgers University School of Law, graduating cum laude and as a member of the order of the coif. He was editor-in-chief of the Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal. He received his bachelor's degree from Montclair State University, majoring in philosophy.