Michael S Goldberg

Practice Areas

International Arbitration, Litigation, White Collar (FCPA, Environmental).

Career

Mr. Goldberg is the Founder of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Practice. His practice areas also include Crisis Management, FCPA, Environmental and Intellectual Property. During his forty years of practice, Mr. Goldberg has served as lead counsel in litigation matters as diverse as antitrust/competition, banking/finance, bankruptcy, commercial, construction, corporate acquisitions, defamation, discrimination, energy, environmental, ERISA, FCPA and other criminal investigations, intellectual property, partnership, premises liability, products liability, qui tam, real estate, sports and entertainment, and tax.

Mr. Goldberg's experience extends to a broad array of international matters involving clients, adversaries, and/or issues in Angola, Afghanistan, Armenia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela and Yemen.

Mr. Goldberg has served as general counsel for professional sports teams such as the NBA's Houston Rockets. He has also served as a council member of the Council of Legal Opportunities (CLEO), an organization that works with minority and low-income students to help them prepare for and attend law school. He also sits as an arbitrator and is an Adjunct Professor of International Arbitration at the University of Texas School of Law.

Professional Memberships

State Bars of New York and Texas; Board Certified, Civil Trial Law, Texas; United States Supreme Court; London Court of International Arbitration; Institute for Transnational Arbitration.

Publications

IBA - Advocacy: the dos and don'ts on which senior judges and arbitrators agree and disagree, Panelist, November 2020

Social and Criminal Justice and the Death Penalty, Moderator, Texas Defender Service Light of Justice Virtual Luncheon, October 2020

IEL-ILT 2nd Energy Industry Intellectual Property Law Conference, Panel Moderator, Addressing IP Issues in the Alternate Dispute Resolution World, March 2018

Applying to U.S. Courts to Take Evidence in Aid of Arbitration (Section 1782), Practising Law Institute, June 2017

Effective Advocacy in International Arbitration, Practising Law Institute, June 2017

2017 Baker Botts Arbitration Report - Issue 1, June 2017

How to Protect Your IP Assets in a Technology Divorce, Panel Discussion, March 2017

Improving Dispute Resolution in the International Oil & Gas Business, Panelist, AIPN's Dispute Resolution in the International Oil & Gas Business Conference, October 2016

International Dispute Resolution Workshop, National Institute for Trial Advocacy Training (NITA), August 2016

Institute for Transnational Arbitration, Co-Chair of the Friday Forum, 28th Annual ITA Workshop, June 2016

English Commercial Court Applies Russian Law To Join Non-Signatory Parent Entity To Arbitration Proceedings, International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Update, January 2016

Keystone XL Litigation Could Rewrite Trade Deals, January 2016

Bloomberg BNA Litigation Practice Portfolio Series No. 652, January 2016

Oil and Gas Technology Disputes, Moderator, June 2015

Cuba in Transition - Business Engagement Strategy, Georgetown University and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Conference, April 2015

Baker Botts Trial Lawyers Secure Billion Dollar Defense Win in a Nearly Decade Long Legal Battle, February 6, 2015

ITA-IEL Forum, Panel Moderator, 2nd Annual ITA-IEL Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration, January 2015

Personal

JD (with honors), University of Texas, 1982;

BA (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Rice University, 1979.

Work Highlights

"Michael has an eminent legal mind. He is tenacious, creative, flexible and has an uncanny ability to create victory even when the odds are long."

Chambers USA 2021

Michael Goldberg is "a superlative advocate who has a tremendous amount of experience. He is one of the best. He [c]an persuasively and cogently argue something in a very short space of time no matter what the pressure."

Chambers USA 2020

Michael Goldberg has "Really great judgement and is a terrific cross-examiner."

Chambers Global 2020

Michael Goldberg [Hall of Fame] "is noted for his 'clear, persuasive and compelling oral arguments.'"

The Legal 500 U.S. 2019

Experience

Litigation:

International Arbitration – lead counsel in arbitrations under the AAA, ICDR, CPR, ICC, LCIA, PCA, SCC and ZCC

Russian Federation and key officials – lead counsel on several litigation matters brought against the Russian Federation and various Ministers

Gazpromneft – lead counsel on a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy filing by Yukos Oil Company

Ford Motor Company – national counsel for 20 years, handling a wide variety of high-stakes litigation matters for the company

Kia Motors Corporation – lead counsel in an international (ICC) arbitration for Kia Motors Corp. in a dispute over a joint venture in Brazil

Hines Interests Limited Partnership – lead counsel for 20 years on a wide variety of real estate and construction matters

Construtora Norberto Odebrecht (Brazil) – lead U.S. counsel on various commercial disputes

Governmental Relations:

Negotiations with Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission officials regarding criminal investigations and international disputes

Negotiations with mayors, city councils and governors regarding financial subsidies for business relocations

Negotiations with Chinese government officials regarding the release of international star Yao Ming to play in the NBA

Relationships with several political leaders around the world

Negotiations with the Houston mayor and city council for a $300 million arena complex

Former co-head of firm’s Political Action Committees

International Transactional Matters:

Construtora Norberto Odebrecht and Techint International Construction Corp. – consortium bid with Enron and IPL for a BOT bid in excess of $1 billion for expansion of the TransEcuadorian Pipeline

Mitsubishi Corporation – long-term styrene supply contract secured by a mortgage on the styrene plant

Mitsubishi Corporation – asset purchase of a local U.S. engineering company

Local U.S. company – advice regarding contractual issues with a manufacturer in India

Construtora Norberto Odebrecht – consortium construction bid with Bechtel to Shell for the $3 billion development of the “Camisea” gas fields