In 2008, Mr. Nussbaum obtained a commutation - one of the few granted by President George W. Bush - for hip-hop artist John Forte. Forte had served about half of a 14-year sentence on cocaine charges.
At the law firm Nussbaum & Wald, where Mr. Nussbaum was a partner from its establishment in 1979 until it dissolved in 1996, his clients included the insurer Lloyd’s of London and the liquidators of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International during the massive banking scandal at that institution.
He successfully represented Merrell-Dow Pharmaceuticals in a case involving Bendectin, a drug used to treat morning sickness during pregnancy that some studies linked to birth defects. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a $20 million verdict against the company in 1990.
Michael Nussbaum was born in Berlin. His parents, Jewish intellectuals, soon fled because of the rise of the Nazi Party and the threat of persecution. Mr. Nussbaum arrived as a 3-year-old in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, where he grew up.
He graduated from Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., in 1957. Four years later, he received a law degree and, in 1963, a master’s in comparative law, both at the University of Chicago.
As a young lawyer, he participated in the movement against the Vietnam War and defended conscientious objectors and others opposed to the draft. In 1967, he defended four students at Howard University who were accused of organizing black-power activities on campus.
