Mark Musico is a trial and appellate lawyer in Susman Godfrey’s New York Office. His clients include many of the country’s leading lights in finance, technology, and industry, including Fortune 500 conglomerate, General Electric; pioneering satellite communications company, Loral Space & Communications; and prominent hedge fund, Saba Capital.

Musico rejoined Susman Godfrey in 2015 after clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the United States Supreme Court. Previously, he graduated first in his class from Columbia Law School and clerked for Judge Michael Boudin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Judge Douglas P. Woodlock on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. These experiences equipped Mark with a unique understanding of the workings of the bench.

Clients, both plaintiffs and defendants, look to Musico for winning insights in high-stakes disputes involving intellectual property, defamation and the First Amendment, the False Claims Act, antitrust, securities, insurance, breach of contract, and fraud. Some of his notable representations include:

Saba Capital CEF Opportunities 1 Ltd. v. Voya Prime Rate Trust (Arizona Superior Court)

In 2020, Musico secured a preliminary injunction that allowed his client, Saba Capital, to win the vote for board control of a $701 million closed-end fund, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The injunction prevented the fund from enforcing a bylaw that substantially raised the voting threshold required to elect board trustees.  At a full-day evidentiary hearing, held “virtually” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Musico presented the proxy solicitation expert whose testimony the Court called “persuasive, if not compelling” evidence in support of Saba’s case. Saba Capital CEF Opportunities 1 Ltd v. Voya Prime Rate Trust, No. CV 2020-005293, 2020 WL 5087054 (Ariz. Super. June 26, 2020). Musico also beat back several rounds of emergency appeals seeking to stay the injunction.

Wellstat Pharmaceuticals v. BTG (Delaware Chancery Court)

In 2017, Musico won a $70 million verdict for his client, Wellstat Pharmaceuticals (which received $58 million net of fees), in a bet-the-company lawsuit against the distributor of its leading product. He tried the case in Delaware Chancery Court alongside firm founder, Steve Susman, as well as Harry Susman and Cory Buland. Musico played an instrumental role in maximizing the client’s recovery by presenting Wellstat’s damages expert at trial, convincing the court to exclude key testimony from defendant’s damages expert, cross-examining defendant’s expert who tried to understate the market for Wellstat’s life-saving drug, and cross-examining a defense witness who tried to shift the blame to Wellstat. Musico then wrote the brief that convinced the Delaware Supreme Court to summarily affirm the judgment on appeal.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board v. Saba Capital (New York Supreme Court)

Musico, together with Jacob Buchdahl and Arun Subramanian, represented hedge fund Saba Capital, and its founder, Boaz Weinstein, in an asset valuation dispute with its investor, PSP. Musico led the strategic effort to chip away at plaintiff’s claims against Saba, and successfully briefed motions leading the court to dismiss three of the four claims at issue. The case settled while Saba’s summary judgment motion to knock out plaintiff’s one remaining claim was pending. Read Forbes’ reporting on the settlement of this high-stakes case: “A $116B Pension Fund Is Walking Back Incendiary Claims Against Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital.”

ViaSat v. SpaceSystems/Loral (Southern District of California)

In 2014, Musico went to trial to defend Loral Space & Communications and its subsidiary, Space Systems/Loral, against allegations of patent infringement and breach of contract. Working with a team of SG lawyers from around the country, Musico’s active role at trial included preparing and arguing the jury instructions and presenting a defense witness. Musico also helped write the post-trial briefs that resulted in the court ordering a new trial on damages. The Court called the original damages award against the defendants a “miscarriage of justice.”

In 2021 Musico was named a Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar by National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers (ALM). In 2020 he was profiled in Law.com’s How I Made Partner series (ALM).