Saul B. Shapiro, Partner

Saul Shapiro is a Partner and Chair of the Firm's Media and Entertainment Practice Team. He is the immediate past Chair of the Firm's Litigation department, which he headed for two terms. 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 recognized as a leading practitioner in Chambers USA. Chambers has noted that clients say Mr. Shapiro is “a fantastic lawyer”, and is “known for handling high-stakes litigation, both commercial and media and entertainment focused.” Chambers quotes a client who comments that: “If we have litigation, he would be my first choice. He's a brilliant lawyer, extremely good to work with, pragmatic and has a great personality. Whenever issues come up day to day, I call Saul.” Chambers found that he is “very responsive and creative” and “is admired for his depth of experience in intellectual property and in litigation generally” and also “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." Chambers noted that Mr. Shapiro is a “recognized name in this space.”

Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC’s Benchmark: America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys lists Mr. Shapiro as a "Litigation Star" for New York. Clients quoted in Benchmark have said of Mr. Shapiro, “He is a highly intelligent, diligent and commercial-minded attorney who is enjoyable to work with.” Mr. Shapiro has also received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest "AV" rating, has been named by Super Lawyers in the area of general litigation, is named among The Best Lawyers in America®, and was recognized as a “Lawyer of the Year” in the practice area of Media Law for 2021.