Michael F.Marino

Michael represents companies throughout the US in negotiating collective bargaining in a number of industries, including original equipment manufacturing, aerospace, technology, logistics, hospitality, and transportation. As a skilled and experienced first-chair negotiator who has been involved in hundreds of collective bargaining agreements, Michael has a proven track record of achieving favorable outcomes for his clients, ensuring that their business objectives are met while maintaining labor relations. His strategic insights and dedication to excellence make him a trusted advisor.

Michael has unique exposure to and experience in sports marketing and SAG-related matters, having represented celebrity athletes and actors in marketing and entertainment matters. He understands the nuances of these marketing agreements and the need for proper alignment of the financial and reputational interests involved when evaluating these deals and agreements. He also represents elite athletes and other celebrity figures in high-stakes crisis management matters, serving as a trusted partner to clients that include Hall of Famers and retired athletes with notable public-facing media roles.

Michael also had early career exposure in Washington, DC, to government agencies, while serving as special counsel to the Secretary of the Navy, and later as deputy GC for labor and employment matters, after serving as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He focuses his significant pro bono efforts on organizations and causes dedicated to helping veterans in New York and across the country.

In the traditional labor area, Michael has been successful in saving manufacturing jobs, and working with unions on a new "manufacturing model." For example, at an aerospace facility, manufacturing jobs were to be eliminated and sent to Mexico. With a creative innovative approach and working with the union, Michael managed to save those jobs, and even create new ones.

Michael is a trial lawyer and has tried federal court cases to juries throughout the US, involving defense of both individual allegations of discrimination and class actions. He has numerous successful, innovative approaches to resolving litigation and class actions from more than four decades of trying cases successfully. He has also represented a number of high-level executives in negotiating employment agreements. In addition, Michael provides daily counseling on a wide variety of labor and employment matters.

Michael believes in focusing on the basics: immediate responsiveness, solving challenges in ways that best serve the client, adding value, and cost-effectiveness. He determines the best interests of the client and how to achieve them. Michael takes lessons learned at the bargaining table and the workplace, and uses them in the litigation resolution context.

Michael has also acquired unique experiences and insights from being inside auto, steel, foundries, warehouses, distribution centers, and high-tech spaces, to resolve workplace disputes, and provides enhanced insights in the litigation context. With these experiences, Michael better understands the perspectives of workers he represents.

At Seyfarth, Michael enjoys getting to know and understand his clients' businesses, and being responsive to their needs. He also really likes mentoring young attorneys in recognizing and understanding the challenges of modern law practice. In Michael's words, "We have young attorneys who want to learn and excel in their representation. Trying to assist them in any way is one of the most satisfying aspects of being here."