Mike Ehrenstein

BUSINESS TRIAL LAWYER

Overview

Mike is a creative, strategic, and highly disciplined warrior lawyer, happiest in the fight to advance his clients’ interests. Mike’s approach to trial is heavily influenced by his deep martial arts background which provides clients unique strategic, tactical and technical options to win. Through more than three decades of trial practice, Mike developed the refined judgment to choose the right option at the right time: to confront an adversary with overwhelming force, to use a party’s momentum against him, or exercise equanimity to seize opportunity from disaster. As a true martial artist, Mike operates with disarming calm, confident in his ability to destroy when necessary, and content to be underestimated by adversaries. His martial arts background offers a philosophical and practical under-pinning for trial work that one-dimensional litigators lack. He is a most courteous and yet most dangerous lawyer. If you are in the fight of your life in court, you want Mike on your side.

Mike’s small but concentrated trial practice delivers high energy and remarkable results. For example, applying the martial arts element of Earth, Mike obtained dismissal of claims against the Republic of Angola arising from a power generation dispute. In that case, a global energy firm engaged in the business of design, installation, service, and operation of power plant systems hired an aggressive US law firm to sue the Republic of Angola in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking more than $1 Billion. Rather than capitulate, Angola engaged Mike. In close coordination with local counsel for Angola, Mike quickly developed a multi-faceted strategy to dismiss the matter. From inception though litigation before two federal trial courts, two federal appeals courts and the US Supreme Court, Mike steadfastly and correctly asserted that the claims could not be litigated in US Courts and instead had to be arbitrated elsewhere. Mike’s argument, confidently stated from inception of the dispute, prevailed, allowing the Republic of Angola to completely avoid litigation here.

As he did for Angola, Mike has applied martial arts wisdom to benefit his clients throughout his legal career. He has defended clients from billions in liability exposure and captured extraordinary recoveries for clients involved in a wide range of disputes, from aircraft engines to agriculture, from architects to attorneys’ malpractice claims. While Mike has tried cases in numerous substantive areas, his concentrations include international disputes, energy, aerospace, transportation, professional malpractice, real estate, construction, and healthcare.

Education and Admissions

Education

  • Juris Doctor, cum laude, University of Miami School of Law, 1990
  • Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, Middlebury College, 1987

Admissions:

  • Florida Bar
  • Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
  • Trial Bar, Southern District of Florida
  • Admitted on a pro hac vice basis to various state and federal courts throughout the United States

Publications / Speaking Engagements

  • Africa Investor State Disputes: Gleaning Order from the Chaos, Distinguished Guest Speaker at the Litigation Counsel of America Conference in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina, 2019
  • Numerous CLE presentations regarding; Conflicts of Interest, Deposition Preparation and Tactics
  • The NOPEC Non-Event, Africa Oil & Power, August 23, 2018
  • Small Firms Represent African Oil and Power Entities with Big Results, Africa Oil & Power, July 25, 2018
  • Sleeping Jurors: A Trial Lawyers Nightmare, Distinguished Guest Speaker, Renaissance Symposium, New York, 2018
  • Disaster Equanimity and Opportunity: The Virtue of Composure in Crisis, Distinguished Guest Speaker, Renaissance Symposium, San Francisco, 2018
  • 8 Terms Aerospace Transactions Should Include, Avionics Magazine, July 21, 2017
  • Trial Aikido: Let Your Opponent Dictate His Demise, Distinguished Guest Speaker, Renaissance Symposium, Harvard Club, New York, 2017
  • The Perfect Expert, Distinguished Guest Speaker, Litigation Counsel of America Conference at Amelia Island, 2016
  • Professionalism within Client Issues, Moderator, Complex Commercial Litigation Institute, 2015
  • The Use of Technology Assisted Review, Distinguished Guest Speaker at the Litigation Counsel of America Conference in Newport Beach, California, 2014
  • Predictive Coding Levels the Playing Field, Distinguished Guest Speaker at Litigation Counsel of America Conference, Santa Barbara, California, 2013
  • The Tao of Cross Examination, Distinguished Guest Speaker at Renaissance Symposium, Telluride, Colorado, 2012
  • Legal Issues Surrounding the Development and Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Distinguished Guest Speaker, Paris Air Show, Paris France, January 2004
  • Chapter 2A of Secured Transactions in Florida, 1990—a Florida Bar Publication
  • Michael David Ehrenstein. A Moralistic Approach to the Ozone Depletion Crisis. 21 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 61 1 (1990) Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umialr/vol21/iss3/5 

Awards and Accolades

Litigation Counsel of America:

  • Senior Fellow
  • Peter Pearlman Service Award Recipient
  • Barrister, Order of Justitia
  • Advocate, Order of Veritas

Routinely recognized as top ranked business trial attorney by:

  • Florida Super Lawyers
  • South Florida Legal Guide
  • South Florida Business Journal
  • AV® Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Top Rated Litigator by American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel Magazines
  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 100

2026 Best Lawyers in America Award

2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America

Super Lawyers® 2025

Best Lawyers® 2025 South Florida

2023 ALM Best Mentor Award

Professional and Community Activities

  • United States of America Goju Federation, 6th Dan
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Senior Fellow
    • President, 2022
    • Peter Perlman Service Award recipient
    • LCA Trial Master Certification
    • Trial Law Institute
    • Diversity Law Institute of the Litigation Counsel of America
    • Complex Commercial Litigation Institute, Treasurer
    • Litigation Counsel of America Hall of Fame Selection Committee, Member
  • Operation Homefront, Regional Advisory Board working to build strong, stable and secure military and veterans’families
    • Liaison to Miami Veterans’ Court
  • Abacus Worldwide, former board member, helped to start and grow a broad international alliance of accounting and legal professionals
  • Middlebury College Alumni Interviewer
  • Greater Miami Hillel, Former Outside Board Member and Chair
  • South Florida Aviation Maintenance Council, Member
  • Greater Miami Aviation Association, Member
  • The Florida Bar Grievance Committee 11”I”, former chair

“…among the most strategic and composed trial lawyers in modern business litigation.”

Mixing Martial Arts with Legal Mastery: Strategic Brilliance in Complex Business Litigation

Lawdragon, 11/12/25

The intellect of a chess master with the focus of a black belt.”

Mixing Martial Arts with Legal Mastery: Strategic Brilliance in Complex Business Litigation

Lawdragon, 11/12/25

“a trusted advisor to companies, governments and entrepreneurs navigating their most consequential disputes”

Mixing Martial Arts with Legal Mastery: Strategic Brilliance in Complex Business Litigation

Lawdragon, 11/12/25

“Mike has been our go-to litigator for 25 years. In the highly regulated aerospace industry, he consistently delivers outstanding results by combining deep knowledge of the law with a sharp understanding of our business and the players involved. Mike applies a disciplined, strategic approach to every case. I highly recommend him and his team.”

Michael Navon / President / Blue Aerospace, a HEICO Company

“As CEO of the investment arm of Israel’s largest insurance company, I take great comfort in having Mike and Ehrenstein Sager on our team. They are incredibly skilled attorneys, sophisticated in their analysis, knowledgeable in real estate finance, and uniquely able to translate between the Israeli and American legal and investment systems.”

Neta David-Yaffe / CEO / Harel Finance Alternative

“Ehrenstein Sager is simply the firm any Israeli company litigating in the United States should hire. Mike and his team are creative and always find unique angles of attack and defense. They worked tirelessly to obtain justice for our technology licensing enterprise despite multiple jurisdictions, cultural differences, and complex facts.”

Moshe Rubino / Yair Lavi

“Michael and Ehrenstein Sager represented my business in an international dispute concerning termination of a distribution agreement in Switzerland. Through careful research and analysis, Mike negotiated a favorable settlement by identifying a rare exception that allowed Swiss law to apply. What initially looked like an impossible case resulted in a fair outcome.”

Louis Muskens

“Mike’s insightful and strategic approach to litigation consistently protects and advances our real estate business.”

Chip Moore / Arbour Valley

“Mike is the epitome of an advisor—not just a lawyer. He balances strength, patience, humility, and legal acumen for an excellent return on investment. I first worked with Mike during a mediation 10 years ago and have relied on him several times since.”

Stratton Borchers / Founder & CEO / Graysky Aviation

“In disputes arising from commercial real estate and development projects, Ehrenstein Sager has always been efficient, fearless when litigation is necessary, and able to convey practical business solutions.”

Jeremy Larkin

“As a CPA with a thriving business, I frequently refer clients to lawyers. When litigation is required, Michael and Ehrenstein Sager are always my first choice. Their strategy, deliberation, and client service are second to none.”

Howard Goldstein / CPA

“I have worked closely with Mike for over a decade and confidently introduce my clients to his team. They provide practical business solutions, achieve the right results, and always get the job done.”

Bobby Lane / CEO / Factotum

“Mike took my case and stayed with it despite difficult odds to obtain a reasonable settlement.”

Eddo Wiehjer

“I have known Mike for more than three decades and frequently rely on his advice. He is a lawyer’s lawyer, steeped in the art of advocacy, with an extraordinary ability to identify the decisive argument that breaks through a dispute.”

Jonathan Winer

“Mike has represented my family in various matters for decades. He has always provided the highest quality professional advice, tirelessly advocated on our behalf, and stood as a loyal protector through some of the most difficult business and personal experiences imaginable.”

Rafael Reyes