Mike Shuster is recognized as one of New York’s leading trial lawyers. He represents and advises corporate, financial, and individual clients in complex commercial disputes involving a wide range of legal and business issues. Mike has for several years been recognized as a top litigator in Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation, with Chambers reporting that he is the “quintessential lead trial lawyer” who “leads by example and excels not only in case strategy but in oral argument and overall court presence,” and that he is “fantastic with clients, has super judgment, and has the right style and charisma for a courtroom litigator.” Market sources shared with Chambers that they trust Mike’s judgment “implicitly.” Among other honors, Mike has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer since 2023, as a finalist for both General Commercial Litigator of the Year and Antitrust Litigator of the Year, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2025. He has been named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America, 500 Leading Lawyers in America, and 500 Leading Antitrust & Global Competition Lawyers lists. He was also named a Litigation Trailblazer by The National Law Journal. In 2025, Mike was recognized by Legal 500 in its inaugural New York City Elite rankings for Commercial Disputes.
Over its 13-year history, Holwell Shuster & Goldberg has been involved in numerous high-profile cases, often dealing with financial markets, often featuring cross-border elements—and often led by Mike. He has represented, for instance, plaintiffs seeking the return by the Hungarian government of artworks that were looted in World War II and valued at more than $100 million; holders of defaulted Argentine debt in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals; and trustees asserting residential mortgage-backed securities “putback” claims in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. Mike was a pioneer in RMBS securities litigation following the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007-08, and his groundbreaking advocacy recovered billions of dollars for bank trustee plaintiffs in cases that determined financial responsibility for massive losses stemming from toxic home loans. His team recovered $2.4 billion in the Lehman Brothers trial alone.
In addition to representing his and the firm’s clients, Mike is regularly referred work by other firms in the U.S. and abroad. Before co-founding HSG, Mike was a litigation partner at an Am Law 200 firm and at White & Case, where he served as Global Head of Commercial Litigation.
Updated Sep 2025
