Michael Oberman became associated with Kramer Levin in September 1973, and became a partner on January 1, 1980. Mr. Oberman has litigated a wide variety of complex civil cases at the trial and appellate levels and in arbitration, including antitrust, breach of contract, copyright, securities and trademark cases.

Mr. Oberman recently obtained an arbitration award dismissing a claim for $60 million in alleged lost profits damages on a pre-hearing motion, which award has been confirmed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 2008, Mr. Oberman served as lead trial counsel for respondent in a 20-day arbitration in which claimant sought over $130 million in damages; the arbitrators' award dismissing all of claimant's claims with prejudice and denying claimant the recovery of any damages has now been confirmed by the N.Y. Supreme Court, N.Y. County. Mr. Oberman obtained injunctive relief on behalf of a publisher of video games in a landmark decision providing expansive copyright protection for video games. In another case, he obtained a judgment dismissing a claim for $100 million in consequential damages. In addition to litigating intellectual property law cases, Mr. Oberman counsels clients on copyright and trademark law.

Mr. Oberman heads the firm's Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group. His experience in alternative dispute resolution proceedings includes service as an arbitrator and a mediator. He is a member of the Commercial Panel of the American Arbitration Association and of the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals. He was one of the first attorneys chosen as a mediator for the Mandatory Mediation Program of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Oberman, in addition to serving as an advocate and as a neutral, has written on court and ADR procedures and administration and he is active in efforts for court and ADR reform. He has served as a member of Chief Judge Kaye's Commercial Courts Task Force, which created the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court. Mr. Oberman also served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Second Circuit Rules and Operating Procedures, and has attended the Second Circuit's Judicial Conference. He has served since 1989 as a member of the Executive Committee of the Commercial & Federal Litigation Section of the New York Bar Association and was the Section's Delegate in the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates from 1989-91.  He is also a member of the Dispute Resolution Sections of the American Bar and New York State Bar Associations. Mr. Oberman was an invited participant at the National Summit on Business to Business Arbitration held in Washington, D.C. in October 2009. Mr. Oberman is listed in New York Super Lawyers for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, and within the 2008 and 2009 Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel edition.

Mr. Oberman's articles include: "Practice Points For Excluding Lost Profits Damages," NYLitigator, Winter 2009; "Practice Points for Forum Selection Clauses," Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Newsletter (NYSBA), Fall 2009; Interview, "A 'Switch-Hitter' Looks At Current Arbitration Issues," The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, August 2009; book review, "Challenging Conflict: Mediation through Understanding," New York Law Journal, February 10, 2009; book review, "New York Contract Law," NY Litigator, Fall 2006; book review, "New York Trial Notebook," NY Litigator, Spring 2006; book review, "Winning with Expert Witnesses in Commercial Litigation," NY Litigator, Spring 2006; co-author, "Venue, Forum Selection and Transfer," Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, 2005 and 2009 update; interview, "A Practitioner Looks at Trends in ADR," 13 The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, N.E. ed., no. 8 at 8, August 2005; DVD/video review, "Preparing the Lay Witness for Deposition," NY Litigator, Fall 2004; book review, "Taking and Defending Depositions," NY Litigator, Fall 2004; "Does 'The Apprentice' Teach a New Mediation Model," 22 Alternatives no. 5, p. 79, June 2004; book review, "The Deposition Handbook - Fourth Edition," NY Litigator, Winter 2003; book review, "New York Evidence Handbook - Second Edition," NY Litigator, Winter 2003; "Mini-Summations Yield Benefits in Complex Multiday Cases," 20 Alternatives no. 6, p. 107, June 2002; book review, "New York Civil Practice Before Trial," NY Litigator, Winter 2001; book review, "Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel," NY Litigator, Summer 2001; co-author, "Ward Off Forum Woes," ABA Journal, 65,  March 1999; co-author, "Protecting Valuable IP Franchises; Copyright Solution," New York Law Journal, October 30, November 6, and 13, 1998; "Publication of Musical Works - Settled Law Now Unsettled," Copyright World, p. 15, March 1996; co-author, "Copyright Protection for Photographs in the Age of New Technologies," 2 B.U.J. Science & Technology L. 10, 1996; "The Choice of Forum for a Commercial Litigation," 65 New York State Bar Journal, p. 28, May/June 1993; "Coping with Rising Caseload II: Defining the Frivolous Civil Appeal," 49 Brooklyn Law Review 1057, 1981; "Coping with Rising Caseload: A New Model for Appellate Review," 46 Brooklyn Law Review 841, 1980; "Copyright Protection of Computer-Produced Directories," 41 Fordham Law Review 767, 1973, 22 ASCAP Copyright Law Symposium 1, 1977.

Representative Matters

• U.S. Electronics, Inc. v. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., American Arbitration Association, Case No. 13 133 Y 01107 06, Final Award issued August 28, 2008 (dismissing all claims with prejudice, where claimant had sought $130 million in damages alleging breach of contract and tortious interference); Final Award confirmed by Judgment entered July 7, 2009, Supreme Court, N.Y. County, Index. No. 115867/08, affirmed, 1st Dep't May 11, 2010
• In Re The Walt Disney Company Derivative Litigation, Delaware Chancery Court, August 9, 2005; aff'd, 906 A. 2d 27 (Del. Supr. 2006)
• Advanced Global Technology v. Sirius Satellite Radio, 3/15/07 N.Y. Law Journal at 1; 15 Misc. 3d 776, 836 N.Y.S. 2d 807 (N.Y. Supr. 2007), aff'd in part, modified in part (N.Y. 1st Dep't Oct. 2, 2007); 9/4/08 N.Y. Law Journal  Decision of Interest at 26, col. 1.
• Scavenger, Inc. v. GT Interactive Software Corp., 289 A.D. 2d 58, 734 N.Y.S. 2d 141 (1st Dep’t 2001)
• Best Payphones, Inc. v. Empire State Payphone Ass’n, 272 A.D. 2d 139, 708 N.Y.S. 2d 11 (1st Dep’t 2000)
• Micro Star v. Formgen Inc., 154 F. 3d 1107 (9th Cir. 1998)
• Orderline Wholesale Distributors., Inc. v. Gibbons Green, van Amerongen, Ltd., 675 F. Supp. 122 (S.D.N.Y. 1987)
• Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder, 469 U.S. 153, 105 S. Ct. 638 (1985)
• City of New York v. Long Island Airport Limousine Service Corp., 62 N.Y. 2d 846, 466 N.E. 2d 153, 477 N.Y.S. 2d 613 (1984)

J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1972

• National First Prize, Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition, 1972

A.B., cum laude, Columbia College, 1969

Judge Milton Pollack, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1972 - 1973

District of Columbia, 1992
California, 1981
New York, 1973

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1993
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1989
U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1982
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 1982
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1981
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1981
U.S. Supreme Court, 1976
U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 1973
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1973
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1973

New York State Bar Association, Delegate, 1989-1991, House of Delegates; Member, Committee on Federal Courts, 1977-1989; Member, 1989-present, Executive Committee, Commercial and Federal Litigation Section; Member, 1993-1996, Executive Committee, Intellectual Property Law Section; Member, 2008-, Dispute Resolution Section
New York City Bar Association, Member, Committees on: Federal Legislation, 1978-1981, Copyright and Literary Property, 1981-1985, 1988-1991, 1997-2000, 2007-2009
American Bar Association, Litigation Section and Dispute Resolution Section
The State Bar of California
Federal Bar Council
Fellow, The New York Bar Foundation
Director, Columbia College Alumni Association, 2008-
Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators