Kamal Ghali

Email: kghali@chaikenghali.com

Kamal Ghali is described by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a “brilliant attorney” with a “commanding presence in the courtroom,” a “great legal strategist who anticipates all sides of a case,” and “an excellent trial lawyer” who is “sharp and quick on his feet.” Recognized for his superb trial skills and his “fantastic ability to explain complex legal and technology-related topics” (Chambers), Mr. Ghali is ranked in Best Lawyers in America, Chambers, and Super Lawyers (Georgia) for his commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, white collar criminal defense, and cybersecurity litigation work.

Mr. Ghali’s work ranges from litigating complex fraud and business disputes to defending against U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigations and other regulatory matters. He has particular experience litigating fraud, racketeering (RICO), contract, and fiduciary duty claims. He has first-chaired numerous jury trials, successfully litigated arbitrations across the United States, and helped businesses and executives settle contentious, bet-the-company business disputes, including a multi-billion-dollar dispute over the ownership of two nuclear power plant units, a billion-dollar contract arbitration on behalf of a major airline carrier, and numerous corporate ownership and investor lawsuits.

A former lead prosecutor of high-profile white-collar trials and international cybercrime matters (including the widely reported SpyEye prosecution), and a recipient of a U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance, Mr. Ghali is also recognized for his “impressive white collar criminal defense practice” and his “particular expertise” in cybercrime investigations (Chambers). As a prosecutor, he led several public corruption and bribery matters, including the successful trial of three corporate executives charged with procurement fraud over contracts with DeKalb County and the Georgia World Congress Center. He also tried major investment fraud matters including a three-week securities fraud trial arising out of a pump and dump scheme and a five-week trial relating to the sale of over $600 million dollars’ worth of foreign currency. As a defense lawyer, he has quietly obtained numerous declinations of prosecution, without any negative media publicity or reputational harm to his clients, and favorably resolved investigations involving bribery and corruption, national security issues, cryptocurrency fraud, securities fraud, insurance fraud, healthcare fraud, and environmental crime matters including alleged Lacey Act violations.

He previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the Hon. Frank M. Hull, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is former partner at Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore LLP.

EDUCATION

  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2006
    • Order of the Coif
    • Note Editor, Michigan Law Review
  • Emory University, B.A., magna cum laude, 2001
    • President, Alben W. Barkley Forum Debate Team
    • Ranked Best College Debate Team of the Decade, 1999-2009

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

• Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, 2012-2018

  • Deputy Chief, Cyber and Intellectual Property Crime Section, 2018
  • AUSA, Economic Crimes Section, 2014-2018
  • Coordinator, Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit, 2014-2018
  • AUSA, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, 2012-2014
  • Member, Critical Incident Response Team, 2016-2018

• Law Clerk, U.S. Circuit Judge Frank M. Hull, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2008-2009
• Law Clerk, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 2006-2008

BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS

• Georgia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
• Georgia Court of Appeals
• Georgia Supreme Court
• Georgia State and Superior Courts

RANKINGS & RECOGNITION

• Ranked in The Best Lawyers in America (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• Ranked in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• Elected to Master, Cooper Inn of Court (2019)
• Selected by U.S. District Court to serve on the Criminal Justice Act Panels for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
• Commendation, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and FBI (2019) (intellectual property theft prosecution)
• Commendation for Demonstrated Excellence, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray (2018) (federal jury trial in securities fraud prosecution)
• Director’s Award for Superior Performance, U.S. Department of Justice (2017) (SpyEye cybercrime prosecution)
• U.S. Attorney Award, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (2017) (for excellence and integrity in the co-prosecution of a former member of the Georgia General Assembly)

PUBLICATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Publications

Co-Author, “Regulatory Uncertainty Makes Cryptocurrency Deals Vulnerable to Litigation,” Daily Report and Law.com, May 20, 2021.

Co-Author, “With Facebook, Can the Federal Trade Commission Take a Merger Mulligan?” Daily Report and Law.com, November 18, 2020.

Author, “Should Calling in Sick—When You’re Not—Be a Felony?” Daily Report and Law.com, June 18, 2020.

Co-Author, “When Software Disputes Become Nuclear Litigation Events,” Daily Report and Law.com, February 4, 2020.

Co-Author, “How Corporate Data Breach Victims Can Use the Georgia RICO Statute to Recover their Data,” Daily Report and Law.com, May 31, 2019.

Co-Author, “How Private Trade Secret Cases Collide With DOJ’s War on Criminal Trade Secret Theft,” Daily Report and Law.com, March 19, 2019.

Co-Author, “What We Can Learn from the FBI’s Disruption of North Korea’s Botnet,” Daily Report and Law.com, February 20, 2019.

Co-Author, “U.S. v. Panin: Sentencing Challenges in Botnet Cases,” U.S. Department of Justice Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Newsletter, CHIP NEWS, July 2016.

Co-Author, “A Procedural Rule and a Substantive Problem: Legislative Hawks and the Concentration of Power in Georgia’s Speaker of the House,” Yale Law Journal Forum, March 20, 2008.

Co-Author, “The Sedona Conference Draft Commentary on Proposed Model Data Breach Notification Law” (Forthcoming).

Speaking Engagements

Speaker, “Introduction of Melissa Maxcy Wade,” 78th National Debate Tournament Banquet, Emory University, April 4, 2024.

Panelist, “Investment Fraud Trends,” U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and Georgia Secretary of State Joint Investor Roundtable, University of North Georgia, March 27, 2024.

Panelist, “Investment Fraud Trends,” U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and Georgia Secretary of State Joint Investor Roundtable, Dalton State College, March 28, 2024.

Panelist, “Cryptocurrency, Crypto-fraud, and the Sam Bankman-Fried Trial,” Cooper Inn of Court, January 23, 2024.

Panelist, “Investment Fraud,” Livestream Webinar hosted by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s “She Leads” Program, October 18, 2023.

Presenter, “Guardian Ad Litem Program Volunteer of the Year Award,” AVLF All-Star Awards, April 19, 2023.

Presenter, “Cyber Threat Investigations and Prosecutions,” Institute for Cyber Operations at the University of North Georgia, December 1, 2022.

Panelist, “What’s New in Cybersecurity Law?” 23rd Annual University of North Carolina Charlotte Cybersecurity Symposium, October 12, 2022.

Panelist, “Investigative Interviewing Techniques,” Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants’ 2022 Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference, September 22, 2022.

Panelist, “Secure Your Finances: Your Best Defense Against Fraud,” Livestream Webinar hosted by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s “She Leads” Program, August 2, 2022.

Presenter, “Crypto 3.0: What’s Next in Regulation, Litigation, and Trade,” Association of Corporate Counsel (Georgia Chapter) and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, CLE Event, March 29, 2022.

Guest Instructor, “Cybercrime Prosecutions,” Emory University School of Law Prosecution Internship, March 22, 2022.

Panelist, “A Year After SolarWinds: Which Way Do They Blow?” Nisos Webinar, January 25, 2022.

Panelist, “Crytpo Law – Hot Topics: A Virtual Fireside Chat About Cryptocurrency,” South Asian Bar Association Virtual Event, October 29, 2021.

Guest Instructor, “Parallel Investigations and Proceedings,” Emory University School of Law, Advanced Issues in White Collar Defense Seminar, September 14, 2021.

Panelist, “Cyber-Readiness and Incident Response Briefing,” U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Virtual Event, August 24, 2021.

Presenter, “What Thriller Writers Get Right and Wrong About Cybercrime,” Mystery Writers of America Gathering, July 12, 2021.   

Presenter, “The Colonial Pipeline Hack: What is the State of Cyber Security in the United States, and What Lessons Can We Learn Going Forward,” Lawyers Club of Atlanta Virtual Presentation, May 19, 2021.

Presenter, “Corporate Counsel’s Role in Responding to Insider Threats,” Association of Corporate Counsel Virtual Event, March 9, 2021.

Moderator, “Digital Evidence and Privacy Under the Fourth Amendment,” Atlanta Bar Association Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Section Zoom Event, December 10, 2020.

Speaker, “NCR Corporation Law Conference, A Conversation with Kamal Ghali,” October 14, 2020.

Panelist, “Model Data Breach Notification Law,” Sedona Conference Working Group 11 Midyear Meeting, October 1, 2020.

Presenter, “Cyber Dangers with a Remote Work Force,” Association of Corporate Counsel Georgia Chapter Virtual Value Challenge Series, May 27, 2020.

Panelist, “Online Meeting for the Sedona Conference Draft Commentary on Proposed Model Data Breach Notification Law,” April 21, 2020.

Guest Instructor, “Cybercrime Prosecutions,” Emory University School of Law Prosecution Externship, Emory University School of Law, April 9, 2020.

Guest Instructor, “International Cybercrime Investigations,” Transnational Criminal Litigation Seminar, Emory University School of Law, April 6, 2020.

Presenter, “Cybersecurity and Data Breach Class Actions, Georgia ICLE Class Actions Seminar, October 4, 2019.

Panelist, “Model Data Breach Notification Principles,” The Sedona Conference Working Group 11 Midyear Meeting in Montreal, September 19, 2019.

Panelist, “Cybercrime and Economic Espionage: Privacy, Speech, Defense and Safety,” Lightfoot White Collar Institute, May 8, 2019.

Panelist, “What to do when a Foreign Government Steals Your Company’s Data,” Association of Corporate Counsel Value Challenge, April 30, 2019.

Speaker, “Data Security and Privacy for IP Owners & Firms,” Atlanta Bar Association’s 15th Annual Intellectual Property Springposium,  April 27, 2019.

Guest Instructor, “Cybercrime Prosecutions,” Advanced Issues in White Collar Defense Seminar, Emory University School of Law, April 15, 2019.

Presenter, “Cybersecurity and Privacy,” Atlanta Bar Association Criminal Law Section, February 13, 2019.

Moderator, “Into the Breach – What to do Before, During and After a Breach,” Cybersecurity Summit Atlanta, February 13. 2019.

Panelist, “Cybersecurity & Privacy,” Healthcare Compliance Association’s Regional Atlanta Conference, February 13, 2019.

Office:

1201 W. Peachtree Street, Suite 2300
Atlanta, GA 30309