Joseph M. Fusz

Joseph Fusz assists clients with cyber risk management and compliance, and in responding to cybersecurity incidents and breaches and to state and federal regulatory investigations. Joseph has years of criminal and civil litigation experience, including jury trials, bench trials, administrative hearings and dispositive motion practice. He also has experience conducting investigative incident response to threats and insider misconduct as well as critical threat assessment and incident response planning.

Immediately prior to joining Wilson Elser, Joseph served in the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office as the Division Chief of the Cyber Crimes Division and of the Special Investigations Division, and led a diverse team of prosecutors, sworn investigators and digital forensic lab personnel. In those roles, Joseph engaged with and advised local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of complex cyber and financial criminal matters, as well as public integrity and other special investigations, from inception through litigation.

Joseph has received specialized training on digital forensic evidence, network intrusion and cybercriminal investigations at the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) in Hoover, Alabama, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Joseph frequently speaks on emerging cybersecurity threats and trends, best practices for data privacy and protection, and incident response planning to government agencies, professional service organizations, private industry and other groups. He also has presented at multiple legal seminars on social media evidence, digital evidentiary foundations and ethics.

Extremely active in the legal community, Joseph is a member of multiple professional organizations. He served as President of the Lake County Bar Association (LCBA) from 2021–2022, and in several other leadership roles on its Board of Directors from 2015–2023. Additionally, Joseph has led multiple LCBA practice area committees, including serving as Co-Chair of the Civil Trial & Appeals Committee and as Chair of the Young & New Lawyers Committee. Joseph also is a military veteran and former commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps.