Matthew Biben
Adjunct Professor of Law
Matthew L. Biben is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, where he is Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Group and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group. His practice is focused on the expert negotiations and litigation of complex and diverse regulatory and enforcement matters on behalf of both individuals and organizations, with a concentration on matters related to financial institutions and complex situations involving the government.
Mr. Biben has garnered extensive experience advising boards and senior management through enforcement and advisory work. A former large bank general counsel and federal prosecutor, he routinely acts as counsel in disputes and internal investigations of both domestic and international matters involving, among others the Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), state attorneys general and foreign regulators. He is a Benchmark Litigation “Star” who is recommended by Chambers USA (2019) and The Legal 500 US (2018) where he has been described as a “tenacious but balanced litigator.”
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn in August 2019, Mr. Biben was a litigation partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he was co-leader of the Banking Industry Group, and member of the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. Prior to joining Debevoise in January 2015, Mr. Biben served for three and a half years in increasingly prominent positions at JPMorgan Chase, most recently as the General Counsel for Chase Consumer & Community Banking, which included JPMorgan Chase’s Private Wealth Management, Card and Merchant Services, Auto Finance, Student Loan, Consumer Banking, Business Banking and Mortgage Banking businesses. He supervised a team of approximately 600 attorneys and professionals and served on the Executive Committee of Chase Consumer & Community Banking.
Mr. Biben joined JPMorgan Chase from Next Jump, Inc., a technology company, where he served as the company’s Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.
Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation for almost seven years. He also served as BNY Mellon’s Chief Litigation Counsel and supervised various corporate functions that included the Office of the Corporate Secretary.
Mr. Biben spent the first 12 years of his career in government, serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division and received the Attorney General’s Director Award for superior performance. Previously, he was an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He argued numerous appeals in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and was lead counsel in more than 25 federal and state trials.
Mr. Biben has served as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School for more than 20 years, teaching seminars in legal philosophy, federal crime, and corporate law and governance.
Among other recognitions, Mr. Biben was named Global Litigation Counsel of the Year in 2009 by the Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”) and ILO Organizations. He and his BNY Mellon Regulatory/Enforcement team was a finalist for the ACC/ILO Regulatory Team Award in 2010. In 2012, he received the Nazareth Housing Community Leadership Award. In 2013, he was named to the “Corporate Counsel 100.” He chaired JPMorgan Chase’s Diversity Committee, and the New York Law Journal recognized his team’s work as the Outstanding Legal Department for Diversity in 2014. In 2014, he was also recognized by the ACC as an ACC Value Champion for reducing outside counsel spend by more than $12 million. Finally, in 2014 he and his team were recognized as the Financial Services Team of the Year by The Legal 500.
Mr. Biben serves on the Board of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. He also serves on the Board of the New York Legal Assistance Group from whom he received the 2014 Community Leadership Award. Mr. Biben is a member of the New York State Judicial Commission. Mr. Biben also serves as a Director of Emigrant Bank, the nation’s largest privately held bank. In addition, he serves as a Trustee on the Cornell University Board of Trustees.
Mr. Biben received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1989 and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School in 1992.