Maaren Shah specializes in high-stakes litigation and complex legal disputes, often involving high-profile cases and crisis situations. She also frequently acts as a strategic counselor on her clients’ challenging and non-public business or legal issues. Ms. Shah is very adept at handling matters involving media exposure, public scrutiny, or reputational risk, both behind the scenes and when these issues spill out into public view. She focuses her practice on business and commercial litigation, as well as arts, fashion, media and entertainment matters. As a seasoned trial lawyer, she has represented clients as lead counsel in many state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as in arbitration hearings. She is a Founding Co-Chair of the firm’s Art Litigation and Disputes Practice and Co-Chair of the firm’s Insurance Practice.
She has been recognized, among many other awards, by the Lawdragon 500 as a Leading Litigator in America (2024-2025) and Leading Global Litigator (2021, 2023, 2024), as well as a Leading Energy Lawyer (2025) and a Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyer (2025); ranked by Chambers USA in Litigation: General Commercial (2024), and named by The Best Lawyers in America for Art Law (2020, 2021). She graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School and clerked for the Honorable Robert D. Sack on the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. She also presently serves as a visiting faculty member and a member of the Board of Visitors at Stanford Law School.
- People Center Inc. dba Rippling
- Ducera Partners
- Elliott Management Corporation
- Sixth Street Partners
- Vista Equity Partners
- Och-Ziff Capital Management
- AIG (American International Group)
- Lexington Insurance Company
- American Home Assurance Company
- AmTrust Financial
- Hess Corporation
- Mercuria Energy Trading S.A.
- FirstEnergy Generation LLC
- Oxy USA, Inc.
- The Andy Warhol Foundation
- Morgan Art Foundation
- Artist Richard Prince
- Artist Derek Fordjour
- Artist Mary Weatherford
- Phillips Auctioneers
- Gagosian Gallery
- Pace Gallery
- Petzel Gallery
- Marc Jacobs International
- Chanel USA and Chanel International
- LVMH Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy
- Elite World Model Management
- The Society Model Management
- Kendall Jenner
- Ariel Emanuel
- Patrick Whitesell
- Mark Shapiro
- Alec Baldwin
- Represents People Center Inc. dba Rippling against Deel Inc. in corporate espionage and trade secret theft litigation and related arbitration.
- Represents investment banking advisory firm Ducera Partners as lead counsel in eight week trial adverse to Perella Weinberg Partners concerning contractual and tort claims valued in excess of $100 million.
- Represents Jonesworks and Stephanie Jones in breach of contract and defamation litigation against Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, among others.
- Represents Ari Emanuel, Patrick Whitesell, Mark Shapiro and associated entities in disputes concerning the take-private merger between Endeavor and SilverLake.
- Represents Charlie Javice in civil and criminal matters concerning the acquisition of her company Frank by JPMorgan Chase Bank.
- Represented private equity and credit funds including Sixth Street Partners and Golub Capital in litigation and related arbitrations challenging the proposed merger between Neuberger Bergman’s Dyal Capital Partners division and Owl Rock Capital.
- Obtained full defense victory for AIG affiliates in a jury trial in Delaware Superior Court in a seven-figure dispute where jury found that AIG’s policyholder had committed fraud, acted in bad faith, and breached policy provisions, resulting in a take-nothing verdict.
- Represents AIG affiliates in various litigations concerning the availability of business interruption insurance coverage resulting from COVID-19 business closures and obtained full defense victory for AIG affiliate in landmark case concerning such coverage in a healthcare setting.
- Represented Hess Corporation in litigation with Marathon Oil Company concerning federal regulatory and contractual decommissioning obligations for several former oil and gas producing assets in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Represented Hess Corporation in Fifth Circuit appeal concerning $250 million dispute with Schlumberger Technology Corporation concerning non-performing subsurface safety valve equipment.
- Represents and advises Chanel in brand protection and IP matters.
- Represents LVMH Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy and associated Maisons with corporate and brand protection/IP matters.
- Represents and advises Marc Jacobs in brand protection and IP matters.
- Represents contemporary artist Richard Prince in copyright/fair use disputes concerning his “Instagram” New Portraits series of artworks.
- Represented artist Derek Fordjour in contract dispute with former art dealer that implicated NY public policy concerning predatory practices toward artists.
- Represents M. Patrick Carroll in a variety of matters including advising in connection with the sale of assets in the Carroll Companies to RMR.
- Represented The Andy Warhol Foundation in copyright infringement lawsuit concerning whether Warhol made fair use of a photograph of the late recording artist known as “Prince” in connection with his 1984 series of 16 paintings and drawings of Prince.
- Represented Elite World S.A. and supermodel Kendall Jenner in litigation with Italian fashion brand concerning a modeling contract.
- Represented Elite World S.A. and Men Women N.Y. Model Management Inc. in litigation with Elite N.Y. Model Management concerning unlawful competition and solicitation of models and model managers.
- Represents Morgan Art Foundation against the Estate of Robert Indiana and others in a lawsuit concerning the foundation’s rights in and protection of the late artist Robert Indiana’s artworks and artistic legacy.
- Represented Knoedler Gallery, one of the most prominent art galleries in the world, in lawsuits arising from $60 million in sales of forged artwork previously believed to be by Abstract Expressionist artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Willem de Kooning, until those cases were brought to successful resolution.
- Represents Phillips Auctioneers in a variety of matters and obtained landmark victory for Phillips Auctioneers in the S.D.N.Y. and Second Circuit concerning effect of force majeure clause following pandemic-related auction postponements.
- Represented Elliott Management Corporation’s NML Capital Ltd. against the Republic of Argentina relating to Argentina’s decade-old default on sovereign debt.
- Antitrust & Competition
- Appellate Practice
- Art Litigation
- Crisis Law & Strategy Group
- Distressed Investment Litigation
- Employment Litigation & Counseling
- Energy Sector Disputes
- Entertainment & Media Litigation
- Hedge Fund Litigation
- Insurance & Reinsurance Litigation
- International Arbitration
- Investment Fund Litigation
- Lender Liability & Other Banking Financial Institution Litigation
- Litigation Representing Plaintiffs
- Structured Finance & Derivatives Litigation
- Sovereign Wealth Fund Litigation
- Stanford Law School
(J.D., with distinction, 2007) - University of Pennsylvania
(B.A., magna cum laude, with honors, Economics; Spanish, 2003)
- The State Bar of New York
- United States Appeals Court:
- Second Circuit
- Third Circuit
- Fifth Circuit
- United States District Court:
- Southern District of New York
- Eastern District of New York
- French
- Spanish
- Italian
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert D. Sack:
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2009-2010
- Selected to Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers, Litigation – Art (2025)
- Selected to Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers, Energy Litigation (2025)
- Selected to Lawdragon 500 Global Litigation Lawyers guide (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025)
- Selected to Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America guide (2024, 2025)
- Selected to Lawdragon 500 as Leading Litigator in Complex Commercial Litigation, inc. Art (2023-2025)
- Selected to The Best Lawyers in America, in Art Law (2020-2021)
- Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Future Stars (2023 – 2024)
- Ranked in Legal 500 USA Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes “Next Generation Partner”, “Recommended Lawyer” (2023-2024)
- Selected to Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers guide (2020-2024)
- Ranked by Legal 500 USA, Insurance: Advice to Insurers, “Recommended Lawyers,” 2024
- Ranked by Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial, Up and Coming, 2024
- Ranked in Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers, Energy Litigation (2023-2024)
- Named a Law360 MVP in Insurance (2022)
- Recognized as “Next Generation Partner” for General Commercial Disputes by Legal 500 (2022)
- Honored as “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer (2022)
- Honored as “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer (2019)
- Selected as a 2018 “Rising Star” in Energy by Law360
- Named to Benchmark Litigation's “Under 40 Hot List.” (2016, 2018, 2019)
- Selected as a “2016 Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal
- Luke Nikas and Maaren A. Shah, Art Law Chapter, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, 5th Edition (2021).
- Luke Nikas and Maaren A Shah, Mediation and Arbitration of International Art Disputes, The Art Law Review, 1st Edition (2020).
- Luke Nikas and Maaren Shah, To Give and To Receive: A Handbook on Collection Gifts and Donations for Museums and Donors, 2nd Edition, § 24 Copyright Does Not Transfer with the Gift (2020).
- Firm Memorandum, Appropriation Art: An International Divide (Oct. 2019).
- Firm Memorandum, Rentmeester v. Nike: Copyright Protection for Photography (Jan. 2019).
- Interpreting In Pari Delicto In the Wake of Kirschner v. KPMG, Am. Bankr. Inst. J., Vol. XXIX, No. 2 (Mar. 2010).
- Deepening Insolvency Theory: It Should Be Upheld, Special to The National Law Journal (July 9, 2007).
- Sink or Swim? A Case for Salvaging Deepening Insolvency Theory, 7 J. Bus. & Sec. L. 163 (2007).