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Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP is one of the nation’s most influential and respected litigation boutiques. Known for its ability to try high-impact commercial disputes with the greatest financial and legal stakes, and the quality of its legal scholarship and writing, the firm selectively draws talent trained at the finest law schools, clerkships, and firms. Notably, two-thirds of HSG’s partners and associates have served as clerks on domestic or international courts. HSG’s ranks include four former U.S. Supreme Court clerks.
Benchmark Litigation named HSG General Commercial Firm of the Year (2025), New York Law Firm of the Year three times since its founding (2016, 2024, and 2025), and a Top 10 Boutique (since 2017). Beyond recognition by Benchmark Litigation, HSG lawyers have been recognized consistently for their excellence by Chambers USA, The American Lawyer, Bloomberg Law, Legal 500, and in other rankings and publications.
Representing both plaintiffs and defendants, HSG serves as lead counsel for clients such as Visa, Chubb, HSBC, and government-owned pension funds in a range of disputes, and is particularly well known for:
Complex Commercial Disputes: HSG represents clients in a wide range of complex commercial disputes, both purely domestic and multi-jurisdictional, and is currently national trial counsel on some of the country’s largest and most high-profile cases, including for Chubb in nationwide opioid coverage litigation. The firm recently secured a $101 million jury verdict against Walmart in a lawsuit alleging the company wrongfully cancelled its contract to purchase personal protective equipment during the pandemic, and a jury verdict finding Boeing liable for $81.3 million for misappropriating trade secrets related to the development of electric and hybrid-electric aircraft. Its clients include, among others, multinational corporations, financial institutions, hedge funds and private equity funds, family-owned businesses, and directors of public companies.
Financial Markets & Securities Litigation: HSG lawyers have been involved in numerous landmark financial markets cases, representing, among others, banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, foreign governments, trustees, and other market participants. The firm established itself as a pioneer in RMBS ‘putback’ litigation, resolving billions of dollars in losses from the Great Recession. And the firm has taken the lead on innovative “cost-of-insurance” litigation in the Southern District of New York and other federal courts around the country.
Distressed Debt Litigation. HSG has also been at the forefront of litigation relating to high-profile liability-management exercises (LMEs) that have been challenged in court. HSG represented both PetSmart and Travelport in cases concerning LMEs undertaken by those companies. More recently, HSG is representing a group of lenders challenging Serta’s 2020 uptiering transaction—and recently secured a front-page victory on appeal, which declared that the uptiering violated the credit agreement; HSG also was trial counsel for certain first lien noteholders that participated in a debt transaction undertaken by Incora. HSG’s clients recently secured a complete win on appeal based on the trial record.
Antitrust Litigation: In addition to the firm’s ongoing representation of Visa in multi-district litigation involving hundreds of billions of dollars in claimed damages, the firm’s lawyers have represented Comcast, Raytheon, the NBA, General Re, Saudi Refining, Inc., Valve, and other clients in major antitrust litigation and governmental reviews. On the plaintiffs’ side, the firm recently represented Valassis, a MacAndrews & Forbes portfolio company, in a jury trial against News Corp.
Appellate Litigation: With its roster of former judges and Supreme Court clerks, the firm brings to the appellate process a unique understanding of how judges approach decision making. Whether in litigating an appeal or framing trial disputes in anticipation of appeal, HSG has the benefit of Judge Holwell’s experience as a district judge and designated circuit judge, Justice James McGuire’s service as a New York trial court and appellate court judge, and the insights offered by former U.S. Supreme Court clerks Vincent Levy, Daniel Sullivan, Gregory Dubinsky, and Jack Millman, along with other HSG attorneys who served as law clerks in federal courts of appeals.
The group’s recent results underscore its range: a unanimous victory at the U.S. Supreme Court on a procedural question; major wins in the Fifth and Ninth Circuits on a “landmark” restructuring case and a multi-million dollar trade secrets verdict, respectively; the invalidation in a New York state appellate court of a statute (enacted in 1787) relating to the ability to sue judges monetarily; and the complete reversal of a bankruptcy court ruling in a closely-watched dispute arising out of a liability-management exercise.
Transnational Litigation: The firm has represented numerous clients in matters with transnational dimensions, including creditors against foreign sovereigns in disputes over defaults of their debt, to international arbitrations to Section 1782 proceedings. The firm’s lawyers have also represented various foreign sovereigns and state-owned entities in a variety of matters and have significant international arbitration experience. As just one example, the firm challenged across multiple fora the termination of power contracts worth more than a billion dollars, alleging breach of contract by the Angolan government and tortious interference by General Electric.
Investigations/Monitorships: Bringing to bear the firm’s considerable judicial experience, HSG lawyers handle criminal and regulatory enforcement investigations, as well as independent monitorships brought about by consent decrees, settlements, or otherwise. As one example, Judge Holwell, with the assistance of HSG, acted as an independent monitor engaged by a large financial institution pursuant to an agreement between the institution and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Updated Sep 2025
