Bio

Sanford Michelman, Chairman and Co-Founder of M&R, is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles and New York offices. He focuses his practice across industries, with a particular expertise in the insurance, financial services, advertising and digital media spaces. Named the “Litigation Attorney of the Year” for 2021 and, more recently, a Top 100 Lawyer by the Los Angeles Business Journal, he is routinely called upon to represent clients in the most difficult and complex “bet-the-company” matters that play out in arbitration, administrative proceedings and in state and federal courts all over the country. Having defeated scores of class actions and large exposure cases, Sanford is sought after by insurers, broker/agents, underwriters, private equity groups, banks and leading businesses throughout the U.S for representation. He also acts on behalf of clients like these in investigations conducted by various governmental agencies including Departments of Insurance, Attorney General’s Offices, Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Real Estate, among others. Sanford not only serves clients in matters involving the U.S. government, he has also represented the government itself and handled matters for government officials. He assisted U.S. Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) in the investigation of Executive Life Insurance, Inc. and the nomination of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2001, the Governor of California appointed Sanford to the State Athletic Commission, of which he was elected Vice-Chairman in 2002 and Chairman in 2004. In 2016, Sanford was elected as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s board of directors and he served as the Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank’s Audit and Risk Management Committee. His term ended in December 2022.