Overview
Saul Shapiro is Chair of the firm's Litigation Department, a group of more than 125 lawyers. He is also Co-Chair of the firm's Media and Entertainment Practice Team. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, as well as intellectual property disputes. He has won the dismissal of numerous cases on pre-trial motions. He has also been lead counsel in seven trials, and he has been victorious in all four of the jury trials he has taken to verdict. Mr. Shapiro is an experienced appellate lawyer, and has conducted numerous internal investigations. He is a 1986 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school, he clerked for the Hon. Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York, before joining Patterson Belknap.
Mr. Shapiro is consistently recognized as a leading practitioner in Chambers USA. Chambers has said of Mr. Shapiro,"[a] highly regarded player, the 'very responsive and creative' Saul Shapiro is admired for his 'depth of experience both in intellectual property issues and in litigation generally.' Clients found that 'he excels in internal investigations...as well as exercising good judgment so that disputes can be resolved as expeditiously and cost-effectively as possible.'" Clients also praise the "astute and highly talented” Mr. Shapiro for “his understanding of the pressures facing clients” and “his amazingly quick turnaround times.”
Euromoney / Institutional Investor's Benchmark: America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys lists Mr. Shapiro as a "Litigation Star" for New York. He has alsoreceived Martindale-Hubbell’s highest "AV" rating, has been named by Super Lawyers in the area of general litigation, and is named among The Best Lawyers in America®.
Representative Matters
Corporate, Securities and Commercial Litigation
Broadband and Wireless Provider
Obtained TRO leading to favorable settlement in federal court action brought to assert client’s right to capacity on an undersea cable.
Limited Partner
Represented limited partner in three-month trial in Delaware Chancery Court regarding scope of corporate duty of loyalty clause and duty not to compete arising from licensing of electronic trading system.
Fitness Club Chain
Represented fitness club chain in winning dismissal of consumer class actions challenging provisions of clubs' membership agreement. Argued and won dismissal in Massachusetts' highest court and New York's Appellate Court.
Real Estate and Travel Services Conglomerate
On behalf of corporate client won largest settlement ever from accounting firm action alleging fraud and negligence by auditing firm in audits of the former CUC International, Inc.
Financial Firm
Successfully defended financial firm in dispute regarding value of certain credit default swaps.
Major Law Firms
Represented law firms in actions claiming malpractice.
Media/Entertainment Litigation
Cable System Operator
Obtained preliminary injunction enjoining satellite providers from airing nationally broadcast television commercials. Successfully argued appeal which led the Second Circuit to redefine several key doctrines in the law of false advertising. In separate action, successfully defended TRO seeking to enjoin client’s national advertising campaign.
Leading Financial Information Provider
Represented financial information provider in federal lawsuit against competitor who illegally gained access to client’s computer system, leading to favorable settlement.
Major Financial Communications Company
Won dismissal of federal action claiming damages resulting from allegedly negligent issuance of unique identifying number to two securities.
Weekly Newspaper
Represented minority shareholder regarding the value of his shares in newspaper. Won jury verdict finding newspaper publisher bilked funds.
Web Portal
Represented web portal in dispute with competing portal regarding content distribution agreement.
Investment Publication
Represented magazine in successful defense of litigation resulting from a failed joint venture to publish a magazine in China.
Cable System Operator
Represented cable systems in disputes regarding retransmission agreements.
Major Daily Newspaper
Won dismissal of libel and privacy litigations, including well-publicized defamation claim.
Television Networks
Prosecuted motions quashing subpoenas requesting testimony, documents, and videotapes from reporters, and seeking access to materials on behalf of reporters; rendered libel and privacy advice.
Investigations
Major Media Companies
Conducted investigations of alleged wrongdoing and likely legal impact, culminating in lengthy reports. Subject of investigations include: $100 million overrun in software agreement; problems with content disseminated by company; and executive who was allegedly taking unauthorized actions on the company’s behalf.
Major Financial Media Company
Representation of major media company in investigation by New York Attorney General into whether client’s service aided and abetted insider trading. Investigation resulted in no action against company. Rewrote company compliance policies.
Major Music Company
Representation of major record company in investigation of “payola” by New York Attorney General, culminating in settlement.
Major Financial Information Provider
Representation of major financial information provider in investigation by state attorney general’s office.
Major Media Company
Conducted internal investigation of wrongdoing by executives in company subsidiary.
Sports Association
Representation of sports association with respect to internal hearing concerning alleged violation of association's rules by members and subsequent litigation.