Debra Wong Yang

Yang’s expertise in crisis management placed her at the center of the worst disaster in the United States in 2017.

On Oct. 1, a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest musical festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds. Yang was quickly retained by MGM Resorts International, which owned the hotel where the shooter was stationed. Yang said she was limited in discussing her work, but noted she represents the company in civil litigation and anything else related to the crisis.

Last year, Yang was also sought out to handle a crisis on a smaller scale: investigating the conduct of Dr. Carmen Puliafito, the former dean of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, who resigned in 2016 after it was discovered he was a frequent drug user. Yang is engaged in an unfettered investigation of Puliafito’s actions, as well as the university’s response and its existing policies and procedures.

A number of Yang’s other investigations involved money laundering or expert sanctions issues — an area that she has found to be changing as the number of worldwide companies increase.

Yang, who helped the Attorney General’s Office launch its privacy, cybersecurity and consumer protection practice group, remains fascinated by data privacy cases. She noted that some of the issues she dealt with as a federal prosecutor are still being grappled with by the public.

“The law needs to catch up with technology as there is not much definition in this area,” Yang wrote in an email. “Hopefully some of the issues ongoing will help generate an appropriate discussion.”

Yang remains on cutting-edge legal issues like the ongoing battle over the legality of online daily fantasy sports companies. She has invested significant time fighting on behalf of the website DraftKings, which sits at the center of this controversy. The company sued the Attorney General of Illinois to challenge prohibitive state gambling laws, and Yang has played a key role in developing strategy and responses to the various inquiries.

“This was an issue decided on a statewide basis, with a multitude of regulators questioning the same,” Yang said in an email. “There were also a number of civil lawsuits filed raising the same allegations.”

— Eli Wolfe