Michael D. Pinnisi

  • Overview
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Licensure
  • Service Areas
  • Honors & Awards

Mr. Pinnisi provides General Counsel, contract negotiation and enforcement, commercial dispute resolution, internal corporate investigations, and other legal services for sophisticated corporate clients across the country.

He draws upon nearly four decades of public, private, and academic work to bring rounded judgment to his engagements. His professional experience includes service as a Partner of the venerable law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, General Counsel of billion-dollar+ hedge fund Hudson Executive Capital, General Counsel of high-technology company Kionix, Inc., advisor to officers and directors of a range of public and private companies, Honor Program Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in both its Civil and Criminal Divisions, special-assignment Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the Washington, D.C. office, litigation associate of leading international law firms Shearman & Sterling and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell Law School.

Mr. Pinnisi is a named inventor in three issued U.S. Patents, in the fields of infectious disease treatment and additive manufacturing methods.

He is an honor graduate of Cornell University and Cornell Law School, a frequent speaker to bar and business groups, and a recipient of awards for upholding high ethical standards in the practice of law.

Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, A.B. 1982
Aleph Samach Honor Society for Student Leaders
Honor Program, Department of Government
Vedder Political Science Scholar
Captain, Cornell Debate Association

Cornell Law School, J.D. 1985
Freeman Civil Rights Scholar
Moot Court Board

General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Hudson Executive Capital LP, New York, New York, 2017 – 2024
Responsible for all legal matters for SEC-registered financial adviser with over $1 billion in assets under management.  Duties included service as Chief Compliance Officer.  Also the Chief Operating Officer of the firm, handling contracting and outside law firm management.

General Counsel, Vice President for Business Development, and Secretary of the Corporation, Kionix, Inc., Ithaca, New York, 1999 – 2003
Responsible for all legal matters of world leader in silicon micro-machines. Identified and developed new business opportunities and provided strategic advice to the CEO and Board.  Chaired the Failure Analysis Committee re technical product development.

Brown, Pinnisi & Michaels, P.C., Ithaca, New York, 1992 – 1999
Co-founder and senior litigator handling cases and matters of commercial litigation, contracting, corporate governance, and intellectual property.

Adjunct Professor of Law and lecturer, Cornell Law School, 1992 – 2025
Offered courses in negotiation, pretrial litigation, trial advocacy, and appellate advocacy; guest lectured regarding ethics and General Counsel issues.

Litigation Associate, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Washington, D.C., 1991 – 1992
Products liability litigation counsel in national mass tort cases involving alleged L-tryptophan causation of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome epidemic.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, 1988 – 1991
Represented the United States in civil and criminal cases in a wide range of subject matters, including cases of national significance.

Litigation Associate, Shearman & Sterling, New York, N.Y., 1987 – 1988
Commercial and bankruptcy litigation practice, primarily re Hunt brothers’ bankruptcy litigation following their failed attempt to corner the silver market.

Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice Honor Program, Washington, D.C., 1985 – 1987
Represented the United States in civil and criminal cases as a Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, Criminal Division.

Bar Admissions:

  • New York State
  • United States District Court, Northern District of New York
  • United States District Court, Southern District of New York
  • United States District Court, Western District of New York
  • Untied States Court of Appeals for the Federal Court

Practice Areas:

  • Appeals
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Corporate Finance
  • Corporate Formation and Governance
  • Contract Negotiation and Drafting
  • General Counsel Functions
  • Internal Corporate Investigations
  • Patent and Trademark Consultation
  • White Collar Criminal Defense
  • Best Lawyers in America
  • AV-Preeminent Rating, Judicial Edition, by Martindale Hubbell (its highest rating for a litigator)
  • Super Lawyers – New York
  • AVVO – 10 of 10 “Superb” rating
  • Who’s Who in America, in American Law, and in American Finance and Industry
  • Phi Delta Phi (Legal Service and Ethics Fraternity), Honorary Inductee, Cornell Law School Chapter