Michael R. Overly is a partner and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP where he focuses on drafting and negotiating technology related agreements, software licenses, hardware acquisition, development, disaster recovery, outsourcing agreements, information security agreements, e-commerce agreements, and technology use policies. He counsels clients in the areas of technology acquisition, information security, electronic commerce, and on-line law. Mr. Overly is a member of the Technology Transactions, Cybersecurity, and Privacy and Privacy, Security & Information Management Practices.
Mr. Overly is one of the few practicing lawyers who has satisfied the rigorous requirements necessary to obtain the Certified Information System Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Information Systems Security Management Professional (ISSMP), Certified Risk and Information System Controls (CRISC) and Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP) certifications.
Mr. Overly was recognized as a 2023 Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer after being nominated as an outstanding lawyer by his clients as part of Thomson Reuters' global research with in-house counsel. In 2010 - 2015, The Legal 500 recognized Mr. Overly for his information technology work in the U.S. In 2005, he was selected for inclusion in the Southern California Super Lawyers® list and also was honored by Los Angeles Magazine for this recognition. In addition, Mr. Overly was recognized by Chambers USA for his IT & outsourcing work (2013 - 2016).
Mr. Overly is a graduate of Loyola Law School (J.D., 1989), where he was articles editor of the Loyola Law Review and elected to Order of the Coif, and Texas A&M University (M.S., electrical engineering, 1984; B.S., 1982). He was admitted to the California Bar in 1989.
Mr. Overly is chair of the Legal Working Group for the Cloud Standards Customer Council, an end user advocacy group dedicated to accelerating cloud's successful adoption, and drilling down into the standards, security and interoperability issues surrounding the transition to the cloud. He is also a member of the Computer Security Institute, the Information Systems Security Association, the Computer Law Association, and the International Technology Law Association.
Mr. Overly’s numerous articles and books have been published in the United States, Europe, Korea, and Japan. He has been interviewed by a wide variety of print and broadcast media (e.g., the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Business 2.0, Newsweek, ABCNEWS.com, CNN, and MSNBC) as a nationally recognized expert on technology and security related matters. In addition to conducting seminars in the United States, Norway, Japan, and Malaysia, Mr. Overly has testified before the U.S. Congress regarding online issues.