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Michael N. Sheetz is a partner in Cooley's Litigation department and a member of the Commercial Litigation and Employment & Labor practice groups. He also is the Chair of the Sports Law practice group. Mr. Sheetz joined the firm in 2010 and is resident in the Boston office.
Mr. Sheetz has over 25 years of experience handling commercial litigation in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. Mr. Sheetz has acted as lead trial counsel in many complex commercial and employment-related matters. Among the many varied cases he has handled, Mr. Sheetz has prosecuted or defended dozens of trade secret and non-competition cases in Massachusetts and in more than 15 other states, involving life sciences and technology companies among others. His diverse practice also includes acting as outside general counsel for a number of his clients and serving as personal counsel to many senior business executives.
In addition to handling employment-related litigation, Mr. Sheetz has negotiated employment agreements (either Company-side or on behalf of management) involving senior management teams, CEOs and other senior executives.
Mr. Sheetz‘s practice also encompasses the representation of some of the top athletes and sports organizations in the U.S. in various matters, including corporate governance, licensing, employment, contract disputes, intellectual property and litigation.
Recent representative litigation experience includes:
- Lead defense counsel for public company in 10,000 employee nationwide wage and hour class action (filed in federal court in Philadelphia)
- Lead counsel for medical device company in non-competition and trade secret case involving 19 employees working in 12 states (filed in Superior Court in Connecticut)
- Lead counsel for national financial services company in consumer class action (filed in federal court in Boston)
- Lead counsel for trustees in $220 million case involving complex disputes among dozens of beneficiaries (filed in New Jersey state court)
- Lead counsel for national technology company in trade secret and non-competition case (filed in Massachusetts Superior Court)
- Lead counsel for regional accounting firm in successful defense of $17 million malpractice action (filed in Superior Court in Massachusetts)
Recent representative employment experience includes:
- Representation of national digital media company in negotiation of CEO contract
- Representation of management team of public life sciences company in connection with a $400 million acquisition by a private equity firm
- Representation of CEO of public medical device company in connection with a $6 billion private equity transaction
- Representation of national financial services company in connection with the termination of its CEO and negotiation of new CEO's contract
- Representation of management team of international communications company in connection with a $450 million private equity acquisition
- Representation of international professional sports league in negotiation of CEO contract
- Representation of major intercollegiate sports conference in connection with the hiring and retention of its Commissioner
His representative sports and entertainment clients include:
- Pacific-12 Conference (PAC-12)
- WTA Tour, Inc.
- Annika Sorenstam (and her affiliates including the Annika Academy and Annika Foundation)
- Josh Beckett (and the Josh Beckett Foundation)
- Anna Kournikova
Prior to joining Cooley, Mr. Sheetz was a partner in the Boston office of Nixon Peabody LLP and, before that, at Gadsby Hannah LLP (now McCarter & English LLP) in Boston, where he was an associate and then a partner.
Mr. Sheetz received his law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. He earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and Latin from Tufts University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. Sheetz is a member of the Massachusetts bar and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Sheetz has been actively involved in the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for over 20 years. He is the Chair of ADL's New England Regional Board and serves as an ADL National Commissioner, a member of the National Executive Committee and as National Vice Chair for Development. Mr. Sheetz has won numerous awards from ADL for his leadership. In 2012, he was selected as an honoree for Mass Lawyers Weekly's "Excellence in Pro Bono" award, a recognition that celebrated his pro bono work in the region.
Education- Georgetown University Law Center
JD, 1986, cum laude - Tufts University
BA Political Science and Latin, 1981, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
- United States Supreme Court
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