Galdes, Michael Anthony

Michael Anthony Galdes

Associate

michael.galdes@lw.com
    Galdes, Michael Anthony

    Michael Anthony Galdes

    Associate

    michael.galdes@lw.com

    Profile

    Michael Galdes is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins.

    Mr. Galdes is a litigator focusing on securities litigation, white collar investigations, and complex commercial litigation. He is experienced in all aspects of civil litigation, including drafting and arguing motions, taking and defending depositions, managing large-scale discovery, and trying cases.

    Mr. Galdes also maintains an active pro bono practice, handling landlord-tenant disputes. Mr. Galdes has negotiated favorable settlements for multiple clients facing illegal evictions, and recently tried a case to a successful jury verdict.

    Mr. Galdes received his JD from the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to joining Latham full-time, Mr. Galdes was a summer associate in the Los Angeles office. He also previously served as a judicial extern for Judge George H. Wu of the United States District Court, Central District of California.

    Experience

    Mr. Galdes’ achievements include:

    • Lead associate in a multi-billion dollar securities class action. Mr. Galdes’ efforts were central in obtaining a settlement for a fraction of the claimed damages
    • Represented an up-and-coming fitness franchise in an intellectual property dispute. Mr. Galdes aggressively pursued affirmative claims to achieve a favorable settlement. His client received the right to use all of the disputed intellectual property
    • Achieved a complete victory for an investor in a for-profit medical college. Mr. Galdes negotiated the most favorable settlement possible (complete dismissal of all claims for no payment). Compounding this win, a federal judge subsequently dismissed the case with prejudice, giving Mr. Galdes’ client a rare double victory
    • When Latham was retained after a client received an unfavorable tentative ruling, Mr. Galdes stepped in and convinced the judge to first reverse her tentative ruling before then awarding attorneys’ fees for his client
    • Mr. Galdes successfully defended against an SEC investigation by intentionally waiving attorney-client privilege on a subset of challenged transactions. The SEC withdrew all allegations of intentional misconduct and the case promptly settled
    • Mr. Galdes served as lead trial counsel in a pro bono lawsuit. The jury delivered a unanimous verdict in favor of Mr. Galdes’s client less than 30 minutes after he delivered the closing argument 

    Qualifications

    Bar Qualification

    • California

    Education

    • JD, University of Chicago Law School, 2018
    • BA in History, University of California, Irvine, 2014
      cum laude

    Practices

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