Working at HSG

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg looks for the most talented people to join us in continuing to build New York’s preeminent litigation boutique. HSG’s lawyers graduated at the top of their law school classes and share a commitment to practicing in a small, tight-knit, collegial group within a culture we are proud of. We believe that lawyers are most successful in a workplace that promotes teamwork, individual respect, and professionalism. HSG is also committed to fostering work-life balance, and we offer a generous and flexible family leave policy. In addition, HSG offers backup childcare and eldercare, along with other family planning benefits, to all personnel.

As a rapidly growing firm, HSG is actively seeking highly talented associates, summer associates, staff attorneys, and professional staff. Consistent with our culture, we expect to grow our partnership organically through the promotion of internal candidates as opposed to lateral hires. Nonetheless, HSG will consider lateral partner candidates in exceptional circumstances, and we welcome all who believe they can positively contribute to HSG to contact us at careers@hsgllp.com.

Equal Opportunity & Inclusion

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg is committed to promoting fairness and equal opportunity for all persons within the firm and the wider legal profession, regardless of political affiliation, religion, age, race, color, national origin, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other protected characteristic. The firm has taken significant steps to further this purpose on three fronts: leadership, talent development, and promoting change.

Leadership 

HSG recognizes that leadership should come from every part of the firm. In an effort to ensure that all voices are part of the conversation, and to foster an environment in which everyone can thrive, we: 

• Recruit the most talented individuals to join the firm and cast a wide net to identify them.

• Connect all associates with partner mentors to increase informational access and promote mentoring relationships regardless of law school, professional background, pre-existing networks, or other traditional connectors.

• Convene planning committees for various events celebrating the rich cultural history and achievements of all members of society. These committees have sponsored events, such as a private tour at the Museum of Modern Art about modern women artists, a lunch talk about the life of Black historian Carter Woodson, and a walking tour that narrated the history of the Stonewall Uprising, and hosted a number of speakers (such as Judge Rowan Wilson, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals and Maura Kathleen Monaghan, co-chair of the commercial litigation group at Debevoise & Plimpton).

• Include in our firm, including our partnership, accomplished professionals from all walks of life, and from across the political and social spectrum. By way of example only, the firm’s partnership includes former clerks for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Brett Kavanaugh. It includes former officials from the George Pataki administration, yet the firm has also represented former Governor Andew Cuomo. A founding partner of the firm is a former federal judge who was nominated by President George W. Bush. 

Talent Development 

We actively train our associates in a manner that positions them as partner candidates. Below are a few examples of significant engagements that HSG associates, regardless of background, have taken the lead on, with the support of partner mentors at the firm: 

• Examining a key witness in a major antitrust jury trial.

• Arguing (and winning) a bail motion in an appeal before the Second Circuit.

• First-chairing an arbitration (and, again, winning).

• Examining a key witness in a multimillion-dollar international arbitration.

• Handling the depositions in a major litigation against the Boeing Company.

• Filing amicus briefs with the Supreme Court—several of which have been cited by the Justices and reported in legal publications.

• Filing an amicus brief for the National Women’s Law Center with the Sixth Circuit.

• Attending and contributing to client pitches within the first few months of their HSG tenures. 

The firm also has: 

• Introduced a summer associate program with a commitment to developing talent from a variety of backgrounds.

• Recruited and retained a highly accomplished team of staff attorneys and paralegals from a multiplicity of backgrounds who contribute significantly to high-profile matters and the firm’s strategic growth.

• Partnered with the University of Notre Dame’s Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program for first-generation professionals on a series of insightful discussions, including a pre-law panel about law school experiences and entering the legal field.

Promoting Change 

HSG has made substantial contributions to a variety of organizations committed to effecting change in our profession and society. That financial support reflects the firm’s belief that one of the best ways to create positive change is to lift up, and partner with, organizations that have a demonstrated track record of dedication to improving access to justice in our society. 

Toward that end, for instance, the firm has: 

• Acted as lead appellate and Supreme Court counsel for Petitioner in Pierre v. United States, 24-37 (U.S.) challenging the constitutionality of Section 922(g)(1) on the basis that stripping all convicted felons of their Second Amendment rights without an individualized assessment of dangerousness violates the individual right to possess a firearm protected by that Amendment. The petition was granted, vacated, and remanded, with the appeal currently proceeding in the Eleventh Circuit.

• Advised an organization advocating for persons with eating disorders regarding the application of assisted suicide laws.

• Litigated, as part of our extensive pro bono work, a series of groundbreaking workplace discrimination cases on behalf of Frontier Airlines pilots and flight attendants who asserted claims of discrimination based on Frontier’s failure to provide accommodations related to pregnancy and breastfeeding. As the result of both cases, Frontier Airlines has agreed to several policy changes that will better address the needs of pregnant and lactating pilots.

• Signed on as an inaugural law firm partner in the ACLU of Louisiana’s Justice Lab initiative to bring litigation addressing discriminatory police conduct in predominantly Black communities. In one recent matter concerning the alleged use of excessive force against a cooperating Black man with pre-existing injuries, HSG obtained a favorable settlement.

• Served as co-counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and Shearman & Sterling in a case challenging, under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Arkansas’ methods of electing Court of Appeals and Supreme Court judges.

• Filed amicus briefs in dozens of cases, including the groundbreaking matters noted below:

  • Counsel to the Religious Freedom Institute on multiple amicus briefs in the federal courts of appeals and the Supreme Court voicing religious freedom and free exercise points of view. See Kloosterman v. Metropolitan Hospital, No. 24-1398 (6th Cir.); Warner v. Hillsborough County School Board, No. 24-718 (U.S.); Grizzell v. San Elijo Elementary School, No. 24-812 (U.S.).

  • Amicus Brief on Behalf of Media Coalition Aids in Obtaining New York Court of Appeals Win in Kesha’s Ongoing Defamation Dispute

  • HSG Amicus Briefs Filed on Behalf of League of Women Voters of New York State Lead to Monumental Decision as New York Top Court Rejects Congressional Map For 2022 Election, Resulting In Redrawn Map

  • Supreme Court Issues Unanimous Ruling in Favor of American Muslims Wrongfully Placed on No-Fly List

  • Counsel for Atlantic Legal Foundation on numerous amicus briefs. g., MacIver Institute v. Evers, 21-388 (U.S.) (petition challenged selective exclusion of conservative press from Wisconsin government press briefings).

  • HSG Represents Prevailing Amici in Closely Watched Title IX Appeal

  • Counsel for the Cato Institute and the R Street Institute on an amicus brief in the Third Circuit.