Michael A. Prisco is a partner in Rivkin Radler’s Construction and Surety Practice Groups. He focuses his practice on all aspects of surety, construction, and appellate advocacy.

Michael has successfully litigated some of the largest surety and construction disputes in the country. In addition to litigation, Michael has successfully managed program-wide defaults across the country, including Florida, Ohio, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. He has also obtained large affirmative recoveries for his surety clients, including a recent judgment of more than $20 million.

Michael also has expansive appellate experience, using the insight and expertise he gained during his clerkship at the Appellate Division to challenge and defend lower court decisions.

He is a member of the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section and was selected as a co-author for the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal.

Michael is a frequent speaker on surety law. He has served on panels for the Pearlman Association—an organization designed, built, and managed exclusively by company‑side surety professionals—in 2022 and 2024, and for the American Bar Association’s Fidelity and Surety Law Committee in 2026. He is also a regular contributor to the Surety School, where he teaches professionals with less than five years of industry experience.

He has published articles and presented CLE programs on issues involving interference with the Surety’s A312 Completion Options, pass-through claims, the False Claims Act, liquidating agreements, and the emerging threat of artificial intelligence and cybercrime to sureties.

Graduating first in his class at Touro Law Center, Michael was also a valedictorian. In law school, he was a Faculty Fellow and served as an editor of the Law Review.

Court Admissions

New York State, Third Department

U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Bar Affiliations

New York State Bar Association

American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Law Practice Section

Education

Touro Law Center, J.D., summa cum laude

State University at Buffalo, B.A.

News & Publications

• Rivkin Radler’s Surety Group Secures Dismissal of $3.3M Performance Bond Claim
  October 6 | 2025
• Rivkin Radler Gains 2 Partners and a New Practice Group
  August 5 | 2025

Michael’s experience includes the following:

• Secured a judgment in excess of $20 million against an obligee in an action in which the obligee was seeking over $50 million in damages against the surety under two performance bonds.
• Represented a surety in a program-wide default spanning multiple states and territories, including Florida, Texas, Maryland and Washington D.C., and dozens of projects in which there was over $100 million of exposure.
• Secured the dismissal of a seven-figure performance bond claim brought in Federal District Court in Georgia, involving a principal’s termination from a military project.
• Secured an eight-figure recovery on behalf of a surety through the sale of indemnitor’s assets, including real estate and business entities.
• Secured the dismissal of a $25 million performance bond action against a surety.
• Secured a seven-figure judgement for a surety related to change orders and pass-through claims of its terminated principal.
• Defended an architect against claims of breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference and negligence involving a large public project in New Jersey.
• Drafted numerous and varied construction agreements and takeover, tender and completion agreements on private and public contracts across multiple jurisdictions.
• Defeated claims against a surety for legal fees arising under New York State Finance Law.
• Secured dismissal of a performance bond action against a surety seeking more than $10 million in damages.
• Secured the dismissal of an $80 million performance bond claim based on the obligee’s premature retention of a completion contractor.