Debra Wong Yang

White Collar Litigation, Crisis Management

Los Angeles

As the chair or co-chair of Gibson Dunn's crisis management practice group for 14 years, Debra Wong Yang has resolved serious problems for clients including UCLA and the UC Regents, USC, the L.A. Opera, Johnson & Johnson's board of directors, MGM Resorts and Archer Aviation. Others she can't identify are a few professional sports teams, major entertainment companies, insurance and health care clients and many more.

Some of Yang's current matters include representing electric vehicle manufacturer Faraday Future in an ongoing SEC investigation and related securities litigation. She very recently resolved "a litigation slash semi-crisis matter" for an NBA team. She also has "a big case" that is "highly top secret."

And lately, the former Superior Court judge, Central District U.S. attorney and L.A. police commissioner has begun representing clients in what she referred to as emerging fields. Specifically, she has clients in cryptocurrency under investigation by the SEC and one involved in the market for NFTs that is being looked at by the Department of Justice. Yet another client matter concerns an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission into carbon credits.

The agencies are "grappling with how they want to handle those kinds of cases and matters," Yang said.

"I've really tried to open myself up to these emerging markets because that's when you see not a lot of clarity on the government side of it," she said. "I'm interested in those because I feel like I get to have a little bit of input as the law starts to develop."

In another area, the former federal prosecutor is trying to influence how some state prosecutors approach anti-Asian hate crimes. In 2021, Yang co-launched The Alliance for Asian American Justice. Now the group is in phase two, she said.

The organization is working with Jerry Kang, a UCLA law professor "who specializes in exactly what anti-Asian hate is." With his help, the group collated information about the issue and put together a presentation that she and other members have given to a few district attorneys' offices in major cities across the country.

Yang said they explain "the history of it, understanding what the genesis of the hate is, how it's sat in our community for quite some time, and the need to actually prosecute some of these hate cases."

About 100 assistant DAs came to the presentation in Manhattan and about 85 DDAs did in Los Angeles. They have also presented in Brooklyn and were readying to present in Alameda County.

-- Don DeBenedictis