Aaron M. Saykin

Aaron Saykin is a partner at Hodgson Russ and the leader of the firm's Media & First Amendment Practice, helping clients navigate issues such as defamation, free speech, licensing, sensitive public matters, and New York’s Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law. He is also a highly experienced and successful commercial litigator and trial lawyer.

Aaron draws from a wealth of media experience, having spent 13 years as an investigative television reporter in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Wilmington, North Carolina, before becoming a lawyer. As part of his growing law practice, Aaron has become a leader in defending higher education clients against claims involving the freedom of speech and association. He also advises these clients on related compliance and governance issues to prevent them from becoming targets of First Amendment litigation. Aaron is highly experienced in helping businesses and individual clients confronted with reputational defense issues, including responding to false and defamatory comments in online interviews, posts, and publications. Aaron also regularly helps clients respond to press inquiries, particularly for sensitive issues.

In 2024 and 2025, he successfully defended the student association of a major public university accused of First Amendment violations, winning a complete dismissal in the district court and again in the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The unsuccessful plaintiffs in that case were represented by one of the world’s largest and most well-known legal organizations, with 18 victories at the U.S. Supreme Court in the last 30 years alone.

Aaron also has extensive experience assisting clients with complex commercial matters and disputes. He has represented private and public sector clients engaged in some of the state and region’s most significant disputes involving state-permitted energy projects, construction matters, False Claims Act cases, and land-use claims. He represents both developers and host communities as their trusted counsel.

He is also an experienced trial lawyer. In 2021, Aaron and his colleague obtained a jury verdict exceeding $1 million for his client in a commercial dispute, even though his client was the defendant. The jury rejected the plaintiff’s claims and instead found in favor of his client’s counterclaim. In 2024, he achieved decisive summary judgment and trial victories in a high-profile case involving the new maps for local legislative districts. And in 2025, he and his law partner successfully defended three New York government entities during a trial in the Southern District of New York involving a constitutional challenge to the state’s interest rate on executed judgments.

Aaron and his colleague also successfully defeated all monetary claims against a construction company in a case involving one of the region’s largest public construction projects in history. The plaintiffs had sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the company. Instead, the company ultimately collected several million dollars it was owed under one of the counterclaims it had asserted.

Services

Education

University of Massachusetts Amherst, B.A., summa cum laude

University at Buffalo School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude

Admissions

• New York