
Michael Lockman
Senior Litigation Counsel
Phone: 615-434-7004
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-lockman
Michael Lockman is a Senior Litigation Counsel at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight.
Michael’s practice focuses on matters involving discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, fraud, and human rights. Working with a team of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight attorneys, Michael has represented:
- a longtime employee of Robert De Niro in her civil rights lawsuit against the actor and his company
- a chief technology officer of a multi-billion-dollar company terminated based on age
- a senior logistics officer terminated based on his disabilities
- a chief medical officer terminated for refusing to engage in fraud
- a saleswoman terminated for insisting on legal compliance
- a class of parents whose children’s personal data was stolen
- a healthcare-industry whistleblower alleging fraud by her employer
- a president of a non-profit terminated for disclosing legal violations
- numerous other executives and professionals terminated based on race, age, and gender
Michael received his law degree with High Honors from the University of Chicago Law School and his bachelor’s degree with Honors from the University of Chicago. In law school, Michael served as Comments Editor on The University of Chicago Law Review and received the Edwin F. Mandel Award for Exceptional Contributions to the Law School’s Clinical Education Program.
A member of the New York and Tennessee bars, Michael has been recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star.”
Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Michael completed a clerkship for the Honorable Jay S. Bybee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and worked for several law firms in New York, where he gained substantial experience in commercial litigation and arbitration.
Before law school, Michael worked as a translator overseas.
Education
- J.D., University of Chicago Law School, with High Honors
- B.A., University of Chicago, with Honors
Bar Admissions
- New York
- Tennessee
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
Leonard Peltier Clemency Petition
Representation of Leonard Peltier, a political activist for Indigenous rights, accused in 1977 of murdering two FBI agents in 1975 during a shoot-out at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. President Biden granted clemency on January 20, 2025, commuting the remainder of his life sentence to home confinement. Clemency petitions highlighted significant violations of Mr. Peltier’s constitutional rights during his trial.
Robert De Niro Lawsuit
The lawsuit alleged that actor Robert De Niro and his company, Canal Productions, subjected their longtime employee, Chase Robinson, to retaliation and gender discrimination.
- VP’s Sex Discrimination Suit Against De Niro Partially Tossed, Law360, May 26, 2023