Joseph McNally

As Director of Emerging Torts and Litigation at McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, Joseph McNally leads the firm’s litigation efforts in emerging areas of technology-related harm, including social media platform liability, data breaches, online exploitation, sex trafficking and other catastrophic injuries. Drawing on nearly two decades of federal prosecution experience, Joe helps position the firm at the forefront of litigation addressing the intersection of technology, privacy, and public accountability.

Before joining McNicholas & McNicholas, Joe spent 18 years as a federal prosecutor trying complex cases in federal court.  As the Acting United States Attorney and First Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California, Mr. McNally led a team of more than 250 lawyers and was responsible for supervising all federal criminal, civil, and national security litigation in the largest judicial district in the county.

Joe is an experienced trial lawyer and fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.  He has personally handled hundreds of federal prosecutions ranging from violent and transnational organized crime to public corruption and complex fraud. He has tried 15 cases and spent more than 100 days in trial. He has obtained trial convictions against organized crime leaders, corrupt corporate executives, and corrupt public officials. He has briefed many appeals and argued before the Ninth Circuit a half dozen times.

In recognition of his excellence, Joe received the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance, one of the department’s highest honors, for his work dismantling a Eurasian organized crime group responsible for a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and identity theft operation.

Beyond the courtroom, Joe served as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy, advising the Attorney General’s Office and Deputy Attorney General’s Office on criminal law and judicial nominations.  He has trained prosecutors nationwide as a faculty member at the DOJ’s National Advocacy Center and taught trial advocacy at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.  Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he clerked for the Honorable D. Lowell Jensen, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California.

Joe earned his Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law and his Bachelor of Science from Santa Clara University.