Michael S. Shuster

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, and 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.

Before co-founding Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, Mike was a litigation partner at White & Case, where he served as Global Head of Commercial Litigation, and at Kasowitz, Benson.

Noteworthy

• Recognized in Legal 500’s New York City Elite Rankings
• Named to Lawdragon’s Leading Global Antitrust Lawyers List (2025-2026)
• Selected to Lawdragon’s 2026 500 Leading Lawyers in America List
• Named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation
• Selected to Lawdragon’s 2026 500 Leading Litigators in America List
• Ranked by Chambers USA for Commercial Litigation in New York in 2025 Guide
• Inducted into Benchmark Litigation’s Hall of Fame
• Recognized in Legal 500’s First-Ever New York City Elite Rankings for Commercial Disputes
• Named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer for 2026 by Benchmark Litigation
• Recognized on Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America List

Notable Cases

• Visa as a defendant in nationwide antitrust class actions and massive opt-out cases brought by Walmart, Home Depot, Target, Amazon, Delta Airlines, and other national retailers relating to credit card antitrust issues.
• Visa in lawsuits brought by Walmart and Kroger relating to verification methods for debit cards.
• A MacAndrews & Forbes company in a substantial business dispute with News Corp.
• HSBC, U.S. Bank, and the Bank of New York Mellon as trustee (or securities administrator) in multiple RMBS putback matters asserting claims for hundreds of millions of dollars. Mike has been designated Lead Liaison Counsel in coordinating dozens of RMBS cases pending in New York’s Commercial Division.
• U.S. Bank and Wilmington Trust as trustees asserting RMBS putback claims in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. Mike and the HSG team secured a $2.4 billion verdict after a lengthy trial.
• A Japanese pharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration arising from its acquisition of a Mexican company of pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter products.
• XPO Logistics in a dispute with Elliott Capital relating to Elliott’s holdout in a tender offer.
• French industrial company Alstom S.A. in multiple fora (SDNY, ICC, and elsewhere) in connection with a substantial claim against GE relating to the largest M&A deal in France in 2015.
• Holders of defaulted Argentine debt in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit, in support of the Republic of Argentina’s contested effort to lift the pari passu injunction that HSG’s clients and other holdout bondholders had obtained against Argentina.
• Comcast in precedential antitrust litigation, in Delaware breach of fiduciary duty litigation, in a Section 16 short-swing profits case, and in a dispute with Liberty Media.
• Comcast in AAA arbitration against its customer care/billing vendor, resulting in a $140 million award for Comcast.
• Raytheon Corporation as lead counsel in securing DOJ and Pentagon approval for multibillion-dollar defense industry acquisitions (Hughes and Texas Instruments).
• The Federal Housing Finance Agency as plaintiff on various fraud and contractual RMBS claims.
• Individual plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Hungarian government seeking the return of artworks worth more than $100 million that were looted during World War II.
• Various defendants in securities class action litigation, including Amerada Hess, Comcast, Royal Bank of Canada (Enron), UBS Warburg (Orange County), and others.
• Mega Brands in connection with takeover litigation and products liability cases.
• General Reinsurance in antitrust litigation brought by EchoStar alleging improper denial of insurance coverage and refusal to issue new coverage.
• Christie’s chairman in the Christie’s/Sotheby’s Auction Houses antitrust litigation.
• A European bank in litigation involving the largest-ever knockout currency options.
• Banco Santander in an ICC arbitration arising out of a failed derivatives joint venture with an AIG spin-off entity.
• A Saudi Arabian Oil Company subsidiary in a national price-fixing class action against it, Shell, and Texaco.
• Philippines-based construction conglomerate Landoil in political risk insurance litigation in the U.S., in a related arbitration in the London Court of International Arbitration, and in a U.S. alternative dispute resolution proceeding.

Writings

• “A Practical Approach to Antitrust Litigation,” Antitrust Litigation Best Practices: Leading Lawyers on Developing a Defense Strategy, Evaluating Settlement Opportunities, and Avoiding Common Client Mistakes (Aspatore Books, 2008)