Michael G. Gordon

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Michael has wide ranging experience providing regulatory and compliance counseling to broker-dealers, investment advisers, and financial services and technology companies as an attorney both in private practice and as in-house counsel to a major Fortune 500 company.

Michael generally advises clients across the financial services, investment management, and FinTech industries, among others, on a broad range of issues, including customer claims, litigations and arbitrations; regulatory and enforcement actions by the SEC, FINRA, the FBI and other financial regulators; broker-dealer and RIA formation and registration requirements; fund and securities marketing and disclosure obligations; and securities, investment company, and crypto-related regulatory and legislative guidance and counseling. 

Michael has served as lead counsel in dozens of high-profile federal and state regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, frequently negotiating favorable resolutions with regulators reflecting documented credit for cooperation. He also, when necessary, conducts full-scale internal investigations from inception to conclusion for companies into issues related to potential industry misconduct or alleged violations of internal policies and procedures.

Prior to joining Lowenstein, Michael was Corporate, Securities, and Regulatory Counsel at Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), where he served as the principal regulatory and compliance attorney to ADP’s sales division and two affiliated financial institutions – ADP’s FINRA-registered broker-dealer and its SEC-registered investment adviser.

At ADP, Michael managed all federal and state regulatory actions and internal investigations; provided legal guidance on FINRA and SEC regulatory requirements; directly counseled the company’s Chief Compliance Officer on industry rules, regulations, licensing, audits, and examinations; and provided guidance on issues arising under the Exchange Act, Securities Act, Investment Company Act, and Investment Advisers Act, among others. Michael was also appointed and served as Corporate Secretary of the Board of Directors of the broker-dealer, and handled corporate filings, books and records, and other governance matters for the entity. Moreover, he was regularly tapped to lead broader, cross-departmental projects on an array of issues – ranging from new product launches, sales and marketing initiatives, business development and acquisition opportunities, and strategic and fiscal planning.

During his years as in-house counsel, Michael gained valuable insight and understanding into the inner workings of a thriving global company, which has helped him form a very business-friendly and strategically focused mindset when offering legal advice to the companies he advises. Having insight into the decision-making processes of senior level executive leaders and the need for clear, actionable legal advice has afforded Michael valuable and sought-after legal skills essential for providing sound, necessary, and unambiguous legal advice to businesses and financial institutions of all sizes.

In addition to practicing law, Michael is a Professor of Business & Legal Studies at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, where he has taught courses in Legal Foundations of Business, Securities Law & Regulation, and Law, Ethics & Public Policy since 2017, and serves as the Faculty Advisor for Seton Hall’s Minority Pre-Law Organization and its Baskets & Business Professional Networking Group.

In 2013, Michael was appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to the State Board of Bar Examiners to serve as a Bar Examiner for the State of New Jersey, a role which he also continues to this day. He also served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable Katherine S. Hayden, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey while in law school.