Mishkin came to the NBA in December 1992, after working closely with the NBA for nearly 20 years through his association with the law firm of Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn. He became a partner in 1980 and served on its Executive Committee from 1989 to 1991.

Mishkin has participated in every major legal decision that has affected the NBA in the last two decades. He worked on the settlement of the Oscar Robertson litigation in 1976 and has had an important role in every round of collective bargaining negotiations between the NBA and the NBA Players Association since that time. He has also served as lead litigation counsel for the NBA in many of its most significant matters, including Williams v. NBA, the 1994 antitrust action brought by the National Basketball Players Association.

Mishkin, who has written and lectured on numerous sports law issues, taught "Professional Sports and the Law" as an Adjunct Professor at Cardozo Law School from 1984-1989. He also served as Chair of the Federal Courts Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York from 1989-1992.

Mishkin graduated from the State University of New York at Albany in 1969 and Cornell Law School in 1972. He worked briefly for the Legal Aid Society of New York before joining Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn. He resides in New York City with his wife, Janet, and sons, Paul and Douglas.