Michael Cardello III has been with the Firm since 1997 and a Partner since 2006. Mr. Cardello has served on the Firm’s Management Committee since 2014 and he currently serves as the Firm’s Managing Partner. Mr. Cardello concentrates his practice in complex litigation, including commercial and civil rights matters, in both state and federal courts, and is often appointed as Special Master and Special Referee by various courts to oversee all aspects of discovery in complex cases. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Arthur D. Spatt, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
In 2025, Mr. Cardello and his Firm were retained by a municipality to defend a civil rights action under the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), 42 USC § 2000cc, the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the New York Constitution, and Article 78 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules. In the matter captioned, Muslims on Long Island, Inc., Imran Makda, and Moeen Qureshi v. The Town of Oyster Bay, venued in the Eastern District of New York, Mr. Cardello and his team were engaged to defend the Town and to try the case. One week before trial, Mr. Cardello was able to reach a settlement with the Plaintiffs to the satisfaction of his clients.
Since 2021, Mr. Cardello has served as the Special Master in a matter involving three related cases captioned: Jacob Harounian, et al. v. Mark Harounian, et al.; Homapour, et al. v. 3M Properties, LLC, et al.; and United Hay, LLC v. Jacob Harounian. These cases involve a multi- million-dollar dispute among members of numerous LLC’s which own over $500MM worth of real estate in New York City. During his tenure, Mr. Cardello has resolved over twenty-four discovery disputes which led to twelve significant written decisions.
Since 2018, Mr. Cardello has served as the Special Discovery Master in a significant multi-million-dollar insurance coverage dispute matter venued in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, New York County, captioned Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, et al. v. AT&T Corp, et. al. During his tenure as Special Discovery Master, Mr. Cardello has issued numerous decisions related to discovery as well as overseeing the discovery process.
From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee to oversee the dissolution of a law firm and the wind-up of its affairs in a case captioned Brad W. Cronin v. Laureen C. Harris, et al. During his appointment, Mr. Cardello dealt with many legal issues and was successful in separating the law firm into two firms. On consent of the parties, he has presided over a trial on one unresolved issue related to the wind-up which resulted in a settlement.
From 2009 through 2015, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee in a very large multi-party construction defect case captioned Archstone v. Tocci Building Corporation of New Jersey. During his appointment, Mr. Cardello issued numerous decisions regarding complex e-discovery issues as well as issuing decisions on other non-dispositive motions.
From 2012 to 2016, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee in the related insurance coverage action to the Archstone construction defect case, captioned QBE Insurance Corporation v. Adjo Contracting Corporation. During his tenure, Mr. Cardello issued numerous decisions and rulings in order to prepare the case for trial. Mr. Cardello was also involved in the settlement process, which led to a resolution.
From 2005 through 2008, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee to oversee all aspects of discovery in Delta Financial Corp. v. Morrison, in which he rendered many written decisions related to discovery and privilege issues as well as presided over sixty-five depositions.
Mr. Cardello is also approved by the Office of Court Administration in the State of New York to serve as a Receiver and has been appointed by courts as Receiver to oversee the dissolution and wind-up of the affairs of businesses and for the collection of rents for commercial properties. From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Cardello also served as a Court-Appointed Receiver in a case which involved a 250,000 square foot office building that was the subject of a commercial foreclosure captioned U.S. Bank National Association v. CLK-HP 90 Merrick LLC, et al. In 2023, Mr. Cardello served as Receiver for a lender to recover over $25MM loan proceeds related to real estate in New York in a case captioned Igal Khorshidi v. Brookhill Capital Partners, LLC, et al.
Mr. Cardello is the former Chair for the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. Previously, he served as the Chair of the Federal Courts Committee and the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. Mr. Cardello also previously served on the Judiciary Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. In addition, he is a participant at the Sedona Conference and also frequently lectures on mediation, discovery, trial practice, equipment and vehicle leasing issues and e-discovery.