Michael Swartz

Litigation, Shareholder Activism, Blockchain technology & Digital Assets, Complex Commercial Litigation, Regulatory & Compliance, Securities Enforcement, Securities Litigation, Antitrust, Cybersecurity & Data Privacy

Michael E. Swartz, co-chair of the Litigation Group and head of the shareholder activism litigation practice, focuses on complex commercial litigation and antitrust, particularly as it relates to mergers and acquisitions. His litigation practice includes shareholder activist litigation, private investment fund disputes, M&A litigation, corporate control disputes and securities litigation. Michael has particular expertise with litigation involving Sections 10(b), 13(d), 14(a), 14(e),16(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act and in arbitration proceedings. He represented Trian Fund Management in its proxy contest at Procter & Gamble, and achieved a series of victories on behalf of venBio Select Advisor in its proxy campaign at Immunomedics. Among other things, for venBio, Michael obtained a TRO blocking the closing of a global license agreement, which effectively would have amounted to a sale of the company. Michael’s other recent litigation experience includes activist litigation; cryptocurrency investment fund disputes, representations of several boards and companies in M&A- and proxy-related litigation; and obtaining dismissal of several Section 16(b) actions brought against investment advisers and the funds they manage, seeking disgorgement of alleged short-swing trading profits. Michael served as trial counsel to the former Vivendi Universal CFO in a four-month securities class action jury trial. The jury returned a verdict of no liability for SRZ’s client for securities fraud. He also represented The Children’s Investment Fund in a trial involving proxy litigation commenced by CSX Corporation and served as trial counsel to the former chief legal officer of media giant Hollinger in a four-month criminal trial. Michael represented Cerberus Capital Management in its $9.2-billion acquisition of Safeway.

Michael has been recognized by his peers and clients in Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, The Legal 500 US and New York Super Lawyers in the area of business litigation. His litigation victories have been featured in The Hedge Fund Journal, Hedge Fund Legal and Compliance Digest and, recently, the Litigation Group, co-chaired by Michael, won Law360’s "Asset Management Practice Group of the Year" for its representations of leading private investment funds. Michael’s recent publications include contributing to the 2020 Shareholder Activism Insight report (produced by Activist Insight in association with SRZ), The Activist Investing Annual Review 2019 and co-authoring the “Information Sharing with Market Professionals” chapter in the Insider Trading Law and Compliance Answer Book 2019 (Practicing Law Institute). Michael is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He is also a former law clerk to the Hon. Irving R. Kaufman, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Michael received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was editor of the Columbia Law Review, and received his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Columbia Law School, JD (Editor, Columbia Law Review); University of California, Los Angeles, BA, magna cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa).