Michael Schwimmer

Michael Schwimmer mediates commercial disputes with the legal foundation of a trained litigator and the business acumen of a seasoned executive, having spent more than two decades as the CEO, President, and EVP responsible for negotiating, structuring, and resolving complex matters at some of the country’s most prominent media and technology companies. He understands how executives weigh risk, where business parameters drive legal positions, and what it actually takes to move a principal from entrenched to resolution. That combination of legal rigor and executive experience gives him an immediate and genuine command of what is really at stake for every party in the room.

Michael’s approach is anchored in people before process. He enters every session with genuine curiosity about what each party cares about, what they need to say, and what resolution means for them. He believes that the most reliable path to agreement is one the parties feel they arrived at on their own. Michael reads the room and calibrates accordingly, giving some parties the time and space they need to work through issues, and others the direct communication they need to help them move forward.  He frames options rather than imposing conclusions, keeping the sense of choice intact because, as he puts it, people move when they feel agency, not when they feel pressure. When cases stall, as they often do, Michael stays patient, knowing that what parties are not ready to accept at two in the afternoon can become an excellent resolution at the end of the day.

Michael began his career as a commercial litigator before moving into international practice with Baker McKenzie in the São Paulo and New York offices, then transitioning into in-house counsel roles at high-growth technology startups and a publicly traded Fortune 500 company. Drawn to the business impact of his legal work, he moved from legal counsel into executive management, spending more than two decades leading both start-up and large-scale organizations as CEO, President, and Executive Vice President at companies including Dish Network, Sling TV, TelevisaUnivision and Fuse Media. Across that career, he negotiated hundreds of deals and guided his organizations through complex commercial matters spanning M&A, intellectual property licensing and distribution, investments, partnerships, finance, corporate governance, and employment. The breadth of that career, and the judgment it built across every stage of a commercial dispute, deeply informs Michael’s work with lawyers and clients throughout the mediation process.

When Michael engages a business principal, he speaks from direct experience. He has determined whether to sue and whether to settle and on what terms. Michael made these decisions knowing that he would own the results from an operational perspective moving forward. That experience is not background color. It is the reason clients and their counsel trust him to assess their situation honestly and move the conversation toward resolution with authority.

Now at Signature Resolution, Michael brings the full weight of a career spent at the center of how businesses make, negotiate, and resolve their most consequential decisions. For attorneys and their clients navigating complex commercial matters, he delivers the credibility, candor, and staying power that resolution demands.

Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, with deep experience in Latin America, Michael also offers a multicultural and international dimension to his mediation practice.