Michael Cardello III has been with the Firm since 1997 and has been 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 Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 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 try the case. One week before trial, Mr. Cardello successfully reached 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 LLCs that own more than $500 million in New York City real estate. During his tenure, Mr. Cardello has resolved more than twenty-four discovery disputes, resulting in twelve significant written decisions.
Since 2018, Mr. Cardello has served as the Special Discovery Master in a significant multi-million-dollar insurance coverage dispute 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 discovery-related decisions while overseeing all aspects of the discovery process.
From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee overseeing 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 addressed numerous legal issues and was successful in separating the law firm into two firms. With the consent of the parties, he also presided over a trial concerning one unresolved wind-up issue, which ultimately resulted in a settlement.
From 2009 through 2015, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee in a 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 and 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 to prepare the case for trial. He was also actively involved in the settlement process, which ultimately led to a resolution.
From 2005 through 2008, Mr. Cardello served as the Special Referee overseeing all aspects of discovery in Delta Financial Corp. v. Morrison, in which he rendered numerous written decisions related to discovery and privilege issues and 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 to oversee the dissolution and wind-up of business affairs, as well as the collection of rents for commercial properties. From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Cardello served as a Court-Appointed Receiver in a case involving 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 seeking to recover more than $25 million in loan proceeds related to New York real estate in a case captioned Igal Khorshidi v. Brookhill Capital Partners, LLC, et al.
Mr. Cardello is the former Chair of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. Previously, he served as Chair of both the Federal Courts Committee and the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. He also served on the Nassau County Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee. In addition, he is a participant in The Sedona Conference and frequently lectures on mediation, discovery, trial practice, equipment and vehicle leasing issues, and e-discovery.