Renowned for his sound business judgment, Michael is a member of a team of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP lawyers who represent large financial institutions and high net-worth individuals in securities litigation and violations of contractual covenants. His practice primarily focuses on employment related matters and litigation.
Michael’s experience as in-house counsel has given him a unique perspective of the challenges his clients face, as well as the ability to see both sides of a conflict. For more than 15 years, Michael served as Vice President and counsel for Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Division in New York, where he was co-head of the Recruitment Litigation and Advisory unit with responsibility for half of the firm’s regions and more than 350 field branches. Michael educated field and regional management on best practices in a variety of employment related matters, including financial advisor recruitment, onboarding, and drafting and negotiating complex recruit deal agreements. In addition, he advised on constantly evolving national strategy; drafted guidelines, contracts, policies and procedures for effective and compliant intra-firm competition; employee onboarding; and marketing and risk analysis.
As a litigator and advisor, Michael takes a hands-on approach to trying cases. He has personally supervised, managed, and resolved employment and recruiting litigation from inception to final hearing in Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), AAA and federal and state courts. His litigation experience has focused on prosecuting and defending claims of violation of restrictive covenants, unfair competition, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Michael has handled a broad range of legal disputes in the financial services sector, including employment discrimination claims under the American Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and wage and hour regulations. He served as primary advisor to financial services clients and other corporate clients in contested matters involving employment agreements, restrictive covenants, raiding issues, trade secrets, copyright infringement, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations.
Active in the community, Michael is known for his involvement with youth and high school level sports, including speaking at and volunteering for youth sports in the Morristown area.