Paul B. Maslo

Paul works with clients from a variety of industries, and he handles matters involving virtually every area of the law. The following are examples of his litigation and advisory representations:

• A prominent art foundation to a $102.2 million jury verdict in an intellectual property case involving Robert Indiana’s famous LOVE artwork;
• An award-winning actor as a defendant in a series of cases related to an accidental shooting that took place on a movie set, obtaining several favorable settlements;
• A prominent, well-decorated rapper as a plaintiff in a contractual dispute against her record label, obtaining a favorable settlement;
• A world-famous entertainment agency as a defendant in a case alleging copyright infringement related to a Grammy-winning song, obtaining dismissal, with prejudice, which was affirmed on appeal, as well as an award of attorneys’ fees and costs;
• A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a plaintiff in a case to prevent the sale of an NFT of one of the best rap albums in history, obtaining an injunction;
• A sports bar owned by a world-famous rapper and entrepreneur as a defendant in a case alleging violations of the anti-piracy laws related to the allegedly unauthorized broadcast of a fight, obtaining a complete defense victory at summary judgment based on an innovative standing argument;
• The most accomplished rapper of all time as a defendant in a case alleging various antitrust violations and other claims, obtaining dismissal, with prejudice;
• A world-renowned rapper as a plaintiff in a case alleging various claims against his accounting firm, obtaining a favorable settlement, including all damages and attorneys’ fees;
• A sports agency as a respondent in a dispute related to the commissions owed on a star NBA player’s contract, obtaining a favorable settlement;
• A billionaire hedge-fund manager as a defendant in a case alleging conversion and other causes action related to the ownership of property after the dissolution of a long-term relationship, obtaining a favorable settlement;
• One of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the country as a defendant in numerous cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and various state labor codes alleging that its distributors are misclassified as independent contractors, obtaining favorable settlements after substantially narrowing plaintiffs’ claims via motion practice;
• A multi-billion-dollar hedge fund as a plaintiff in a $100-million contractual dispute related to the valuation of its seed investment in another multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, obtaining a favorable settlement;
• The CEO of an international technology, media, and telecommunications company as a defendant in a multi-billion-dollar securities-fraud class action that culminated in a four-month jury trial finding our client not liable;
• A music agent as a plaintiff in a multi-million-dollar breach-of-contract action against a top-selling, award-winning R&B artist, obtaining a favorable settlement including a large upfront payment and royalty;
• The president of one of the most renowned art galleries in New York as a defendant in a series of cases resulting from the sale of $60 million of forged artwork previously believed to be by Abstract Expressionist artists, such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock;
• The co-founder and 50% owner of a beverage company as a plaintiff in a buyout proceeding that resulted in the court valuing our client’s interest in the company at over $1 billion when the defendant argued that the entire company was worth only $400 million;
• An art foundation as a plaintiff in an action to recover a priceless painting that was stolen by a deceased artist’s former bodyguard;
• The leading Latin-American-food company as a defendant in a class action alleging various claims related to the purported misclassification of its distributors as independent contractors, including violations of state labor laws and RICO;
• A Fortune-50 global chemicals company as a plaintiff in securities-fraud actions against two investment banks regarding the sale of auction-rate securities, obtaining favorable settlements;
  A large pharmaceutical company as a plaintiff in a $25-million breach-of-contract action against its supplier (with antitrust counterclaims), obtaining a favorable settlement;
• Drivers as plaintiffs in a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act against a ride-hailing company alleging that they were misclassified as independent contractors, obtaining a favorable settlement;
• A multi-billion-dollar international investment fund as a plaintiff in a securities-fraud action against a Chinese media and advertising company and that company’s executives and outside auditor, obtaining favorable settlements from all parties;
• The co-managing partner of a national law firm as both a plaintiff and defendant in various disputes related to the dissolution of the firm;
• One of the largest food manufacturers in the world on the formation and utilization of a separate entity to handle the sales, regulatory, and operational aspects of its franchise business;
• The majority shareholder of a private $50-million chemical company on a strategy to regain operational control of the company from the CEO and CFO who were the other shareholders; and
• An art foundation on whether its participation in the commercial publication of a book utilizing reproductions of an artist’s diary and works would threaten its tax-exempt status or require it to pay tax on income derived from the project.

• University of Pennsylvania Law School
  (J.D., Business and Finance Concentration)
• Johns Hopkins University
  (M.S., Biology)
• Cornell University
  (A.B., Biology)

• The State Bar of Texas
• The State Bar of New York
• United States District Court:
  • Western District of Texas
  • Southern District of Texas
  • Eastern District of New York
  • Southern District of New York
• United States Court of Appeals:
  • Second Circuit
  • Third Circuit
  • Sixth Circuit
  • Seventh Circuit
  • Ninth Circuit

• The American Lawyer, Runner-up, Litigator of the Week (2026)
• Texas Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, Business Litigation (2019)
• New York Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, Business Litigation (2017, 2018)

• Following the Letter of the Law Into Absurdity: Why the Supreme Court’s Severability Rule Does Not Preclude Determining an Arbitration Provision’s Enforceability Under the Law Supplied by an Agreement’s General Choice-of-Law Clause, 166 University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online 273 (2018)
• Immunocompromised: A Call for Courts to Redefine the Boundaries of the Absolute Immunity Doctrine’s Application to National Securities Exchanges, 11 New York University Journal of Law & Business 2 (2015)
• 2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Furthering Rule 1’s Objectives of Expediency and Thrift, News for the Bar, Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas (2015) 
• A Complete View of the Cathedral: Claims of Tortious Interference and the Specific Performance Remedy in Mergers and Acquisitions Litigation, 3 University of Michigan Journal of Private Equity & Venture Capital Law 1 (2014) (Co-author)
• Are the ICSID Rules Losing Their Appeal? Annulment Committee Decisions Make ICSID Rules a Less Attractive Choice for Resolving Treaty-Based Investor-State Disputes, 2 University of Virginia Journal of International Law Digest 54 (2014) 
• Trends in International Investment Agreements, 2009/2010: Recent Steps in the Evolution of Bilateral Investment Treaties and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, Chapter 2 in Karl P. Sauvant, Yearbook on International Law and Policy 2010/2011, Oxford University Press (2011) (Co-author)
• Amputating the Long Arm of the Law: An Analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Morrison and Why § 10(b) Still Reaches Issuers of ADRs, 89 Washington University Law Review 477 (2011)
• Definition of Investment: Gatekeeper to Investment Treaty Arbitration, 8 Berkeley Journal of International Law Publicist (2011)
• The Case for Semi-Strong-Form Corporate Scienter in Securities Fraud Actions, 108 University of Michigan Law Review First Impressions 95 (2010)
• Protection of Work Product Shared With Outside Auditors, New York Law Journal (2010) (Co-author)
• Credit Default Swaps in the Crosshairs, Law360 (2009) (Co-author)