Michael S Shuster

Practice Areas

Mike Shuster is widely recognized as a leading trial lawyer in New York and around the country. Mike has been ranked in the upper echelon of litigators for many years by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation and Legal 500, among others. Clients report that Mike “is an incredible lawyer and is amazing in the courtroom,” has the required “style and charisma for a courtroom litigator,” is “just an outstanding, very experienced” courtroom lawyer, has “great judgment,” is “strategically oriented,” “even-keeled,” and “fantastic with clients.” Chambers has reported that Mike is the “quintessential lead trial lawyer.” Benchmark Litigation has hailed Mike as a “Top Trial Lawyer,” placing him in its Hall of Fame together with other notable, highly active first chair lawyers in the United States. The National Law Journal has recognized Mike as a “Litigation Trailblazer.”

Mike tries cases in state and federal courts throughout the country, represents clients in arbitrations in domestic and international fora and regularly handles high stakes appeals. He currently serves as national lead trial counsel for: Visa in federal antitrust litigation in the Eastern District of New York; a prominent private equity fund in a highly-contested, closely watched fraud case and corporate governance dispute against another private equity fund; a high-net-worth individual in a partnership dispute with a high profile venture capital fund; a prominent investment firm and its affiliated businesses in a trademark dispute with another prominent investment firm; bank trustees on claims relating to mortgage-backed securities; and a wide range of additional clients in high stakes commercial disputes. In addition to his own docket of clients, Mike is routinely referred work by the largest US-based firms as well as firms based abroad, successfully represented a preeminent law firm against claims brought by Carl Icahn, and has been asked to represent other firms in similar litigation.

Career

Mike began his career at White & Case in 1986, becoming a partner in 1995, Head of the Firm’s Commercial Litigation Group in 1999 and Global Head of the Firm’s Disputes Practice in 2002. He also served at various times as Administrative Partner of White & Case, Global Head of Pro Bono, and as Global Executive Partner for Recruiting. In 2012, Mike co-founded the litigation boutique Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, where in addition to maintaining an intense daily practice on behalf of clients, he is an active member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Work Highlights

Mike has represented a who’s who of corporate, financial, and individual clients in high-profile and highly contested domestic and cross-border matters across a variety of subject matter areas and in a multiplicity of fora, including federal and state courts throughout the United States and in arbitrations under the ICC, AAA, LCIA, JAMS, and other rules. In addition to the pending matters described above, Mike’s wide-ranging practice has included representing Comcast in a range of high stakes matters (a short swing profits case; an arbitration claim against a substantial external vendor; securities and breach of fiduciary claims against the company and senior executives; a lawsuit brought by John Malone’s Liberty Media; antitrust class action litigation in federal court); RTX (Raytheon Technologies) in securing DOJ and Pentagon approval for unprecedented mergers and acquisitions as well as in connection with proposed transactions by other defense companies; holders of Argentine bonds on claims against Argentina and in disputes with other bondholders (both in the trial court and on argument to the Second Circuit); Croatia in defending challenges to the restructuring of its sovereign debt; Freddie Mac as lead trial and national coordinating counsel in monetizing its portfolio of mortgage-backed securities claims arising from the 2008 collapse of the mortgage market; large institutional trustees (HSBC and others) in pursuing (and securing favorable verdicts (in the Lehman bankruptcy) and settlements of) multi-billion dollar claims relating to mortgage-backed securities on behalf of investors (Mike also was appointed principal liaison counsel to the New York Commercial Division across claims and actions spanning the entire market); Banco Santander as Claimant in an ICC litigation against an AIG spinoff relating to software for valuing complex derivatives; MGM and Credit Lyonnais on fraud and related claims against Kirk Kerkorian relating to the sale of MGM studios; a Philippines-based oil and construction conglomerate on political risk insurance claims relating to projects in the MidEast; a MacAndrews and Forbes portfolio company on antitrust claims against a News Corp company; Mega Brands and others in earnout litigation; Royal Bank of Canada, Amerada Hess and others in defending securities class actions; Saudi Refining Inc in an antitrust class action against certain joint ventures entered into by SRI with Texaco and Chevron; and numerous other corporate, financial and individual clients based in the United States, Europe, Asia, India and elsewhere in pursuing or defending a wide range of substantial, high-stakes claims. Mike represents a prominent AI company in defending claims relating to content created by users. Mike has conducted internal investigations relating to potential exposures in the currency markets, in chemical manufacturing, in derivatives trading and in other contexts.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

• New York

• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

• U.S. Supreme Court

Education

Awards