Michael Klauder navigates high-stakes commercial disputes with precision. From proactively protecting business interest to resolving contentious commercial conflicts as they arise, Michael is known for providing clients with strategic advocacy and practical solutions.

Experience

Michael’s approach is pragmatic and strategic – designed to preserve leverage, protect enterprise value, and position clients for decisive outcomes through litigation, dispositive motion practice, or negotiated resolution. He is routinely engaged by closely held businesses, real estate sponsors, institutional investors, and financial stakeholders to resolve disputes involving:

• Complex business divorce matters
• Financial services and distressed‑asset litigation
• Partnership and shareholder disputes
• Sophisticated real estate and land use litigation
• Ownership interests
• Fiduciary obligations
• Valuation
• Control rights
• Unwinding of complex commercial relationships

As a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group with more than a decade of experience, Michael handles disputes at every stage of litigation, including trial and appeal. He regularly appears in state and federal courts and before administrative bodies, and he is frequently entrusted with matters that demand careful coordination between trial‑level strategy and long‑term appellate considerations.

Business Divorce & Partnership Disputes

Michael represents owners, partners, shareholders, and closely held entities in disputes arising from fractured business relationships. He advises clients in matters involving breach of fiduciary duty, oppression, misappropriation, valuation disputes, governance deadlocks, and contested exits. He is often called upon to guide clients through contentious separations where financial entanglements, operational control, and asset division require precise legal strategy and commercial judgment.

Financial Services & Distressed Assets

Michael represents lenders, investors, property owners, and other stakeholders in litigation involving distressed businesses and assets. His practice includes disputes arising from foreclosures, enforcement of creditor rights, priority and lien issues, and contested restructurings. He brings a practical understanding of distressed‑asset dynamics and regularly represents clients on both sides of complex financial disputes.

Real Estate & Land Use Litigation

Michael represents developers, landlords, investors, and commercial property owners in sophisticated real estate disputes, including lease and ownership conflicts, joint venture and partnership disputes, construction‑related litigation, and title and priority issues. He also handles prerogative writ actions and represents clients before zoning and planning boards in connection with site plan approvals, challenges to adverse municipal action, and related litigation.

Appellate Practice

Michael maintains a robust appellate practice and regularly represents clients before the appellate courts in New York and New Jersey. He handles appeals involving dispositive legal issues, statutory interpretation, and matters carrying significant financial exposure. Most recently, Michael obtained a favorable result for his client before the New Jersey Supreme Court. From the outset of a case, he litigates with appellate review in mind, shaping the factual record and legal arguments at the trial level to preserve issues, maintain leverage, and maximize the likelihood of success on appeal.

Representative Matters

A selection of Michael’s notable representations includes:

• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecuting claims on behalf of a renowned hospitality company and restaurateur against a former lender arising from unfair lending practices and the imposition of unwarranted fees. Following a multi‑year litigation that culminated in a two‑day bench trial, Michael delivered a full victory and obtained a judgment requiring the lender to reimburse his client for all unwarranted fees and charges
• Successfully defended a cannabis dispensary in true a “bet‑the‑company” litigation seeking to invalidate its land use approvals and shut down operations. The matter involved novel legal issues of first impression. In 2024, Michael secured a landmark, published decision from the New Jersey Appellate Division establishing new law in the State and after the New Jersey Supreme Court granted review, successfully obtained dismissal of the appeal, bringing the litigation to a decisive close in his client’s favor.
• Regularly represents one of the world’s largest providers of office and coworking space in high‑stakes disputes against current and former occupants, safeguarding uninterrupted business operations, ensuring unfettered access to valuable commercial space, and protecting core enterprise interests across multiple jurisdictions.
• Routinely represents one of the nation’s leading transportation suppliers in complex real estate litigation throughout New York and New Jersey, advising on disputes involving mission‑critical properties and operational infrastructure essential to the client’s regional and national footprint.
• Represented a Major League Baseball organization in asserting and defending claims against its former branding agency, navigating sensitive commercial, reputational, and contractual issues on behalf of a globally recognized professional sports franchise.

Published Decisions:

• Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis, Inc. v. City of Hoboken Plan. Bd., 480 N.J. Super. 357, 328 A.3d 971 (App. Div. 2024)
• Largoza v. FKM Real Est. Holdings, Inc., 474 N.J. Super. 61, 286 A.3d 187 (App. Div. 2022)

No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the highest court in any state. 

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