Cadwalader Adds Former Hudson Executive Capital GC Michael Pinnisi as Corporate Partner

January 12, 2023

New York partner brings nearly 40 years of broad legal experience and a focus on corporate control matters. 

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP has announced that Michael Pinnisi has joined the firm’s Corporate Group as a partner in New York.

Pinnisi joins Cadwalader from Hudson Executive Capital LP, where he served for years as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Operating Officer, in support of Douglas Braunstein, founder of the firm and the former CFO and Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase.

As General Counsel at Hudson Executive Capital, Pinnisi was responsible for all legal matters of the firm and its several affiliates, including formation of investment vehicles, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, contract negotiation, proxy contest litigation, class action litigation, and consultation with portfolio company management and outside counsel regarding their legal matters. He also served as COO, managing all firm operations including outside counsel selection and management.

“Mike has had an exceptional career as an in-house general counsel, a private practice lawyer and a federal prosecutor,” said Cadwalader managing partner Pat Quinn. “These experiences and perspectives will make him a highly valued resource for our clients and another outstanding addition to our Corporate Group.”

Said Corporate Group co-chair Richard Brand: “Mike has seen first-hand, as a client, the exceptional way we work, and he is eager to become an important part of our market-leading team.”

Pinnisi’s prior legal experience was a mix of corporate, contract, and litigation across a broad range of subject matters, including corporate formation and finance, high technology development and monetizing, intellectual property, commercial contract negotiation and dispute resolution, breach of fiduciary duty claims, internal corporate investigations, and criminal prosecution and defense, among many others. Over the course of a nearly 40-year career, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in its civil and criminal divisions; a Special Assignment Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia; a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Honor Program; General Counsel and Vice President, Business Development at Kionix, Inc., a world leader in microelectromechanical sensor design and manufacturing; founder of a boutique corporate and litigation firm; an associate at two leading international law firms; and an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School. He is a named inventor of U.S. Patents in the fields of additive manufacturing and treatment of infectious disease.

“From the perspective of a client I was impressed for years by the quality of the firm’s lawyers both as professionals and people, and the firm’s consistently outstanding level of client service,” Pinnisi said. “I am honored and delighted to join a Cadwalader team that is a clear leader in guiding clients through the many challenges facing public companies in the current economic and regulatory climate.”

Pinnisi’s work at Cadwalader includes both corporate and litigation matters, including contested transactions at the intersection of both.