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Experience and Background
Andrew J. Levander, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit, has been consistently recognized for excellence in the practice of law. Since 2004, he has been cited as a leading lawyer in white collar and government investigations in New York by Chambers USA, a referral guide to leading lawyers in the United States based on the opinions of their peers and clients.
Chambers has noted that Mr. Levander is "in the top league," a "consummate professional and brilliantly effective litigator," and "one of the brightest, most effective lawyers in New York." He was also recognized nationally by Chambers in 2009 as a leading lawyer in securities regulation. In addition, Mr. Levander was recognized as a top-tier attorney in the areas of securities shareholder litigation and white collar criminal defense in 2009 by The Legal 500 (U.S.), which noted that he is "one of the best lawyers in the country" and has "a well deserved national reputation." He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, White-Collar Criminal Defense, and Securities Law; was named in March 2009 by The Lawyer as one of the 25 "Transatlantic Elite;" and was recognized as a top "bet the company" lawyer by Corporate Counsel.
Mr. Levander represents parties in securities fraud and commercial litigation and criminal and government investigations. In the maelstrom of investigations and litigation arising out of the world financial crisis, he has been retained to represent such high-profile clients as Lehman Brothers' outside directors and John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch. In addition, he has taken a leading role in Dechert's representation of a number of intermediary funds and investment managers in the Bernard Madoff scandal, including his representation of Ezra Merkin. He has also advised many of the leading financial institutions or their affiliates such as AIG, Bank of NY, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, the NYSE, UBS, and Universal American Corp. In addition, Mr. Levander has defended many public companies and their officers, directors, and affiliates, including Biovail Corp., Datascope Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Monster Worldwide, Motorola, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and Symbol Technology.
Mr. Levander has tried more than 40 cases, including several complex arbitrations. Drawing on his experience as a law clerk to the Honorable Wilfred Feinberg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, he also has an extensive appellate practice in both federal and state courts. He has litigated in courts across the country and has arbitrated before the American Arbitration Association, the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers, UNCITRAL, and private arbitrators. Mr. Levander also has extensive international litigation experience, and served as Associate Independent Counsel in the Michael Deaver investigation.
In a case selected by The New York Law Journal as one of its "Top Cases of 2004," Mr. Levander obtained an acquittal for Michael Rigas on six counts and dismissal of two counts (the jury deadlocked on the remaining counts) in the five-month criminal trial in United States v. Rigas (the Adelphia Communications criminal fraud matter). That victory led the National Law Journal to profile Mr. Levander as one of the top 10 litigators in the country in 2005.
Mr. Levander has been integrally involved in the management of institution-threatening crises for such diverse clients as Monster Worldwide (options backdating investigation and litigation), Tulane University (point shaving scandal), General Refractories Corp. (takeover litigation), D. Blech & Company (civil, SEC, and grand jury matters relating to the failure of a brokerage firm), and Daiwa Bank (working with general counsel regarding banking crisis). As described in the February 2005 The American Lawyer cover article, he successfully navigated Symbol Technologies, Inc. through a two-year internal investigation, criminal and SEC investigations, securities class action litigation, derivative litigation, and civil litigation by the company against its former employees. And in 2006, he negotiated a global settlement for BAWAG, Austria's fourth largest bank, with Refco's debtors, creditors, shareholders, bondholders, and investors, as well as with the SEC and the Department of Justice.
Mr. Levander has also been involved in successful mediations and arbitrations. Two notable arbitrations include a multi-million dollar settlement in a private arbitration between two well-known investment banks involving a complex $100 million dispute arising out of the sale of a business, and a complete vindication of SkyLink Aviation, Inc., a Canadian company that provides helicopter and other aviation services around the world, in an international arbitration against the United Nations.
Bar and Court Admissions
Mr. Levander is a member of the District of Columbia and New York Bars and the bars of numerous courts around the country.
Education
Tufts University, B.A., summa cum laude, 1973
Columbia University Law School, J.D., 1977, Kent Scholar, Notes and Comments Editor of the Columbia Law Review
Publications and Lectures
Mr. Levander has written extensively on legal issues and co-authored Prevention and Prosecution of High Technology Crime, published by Matthew Bender, and Settlement Agreements in Commercial Disputes, published by Aspen Law & Business. For many years, he served as an adjunct professor of trial practice at New York University, and he has lectured at Columbia University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, the ABA White Collar Crime Institute, SIFMA, the Practising Law Institute, and various bar associations and government agencies. He is a former chair of the Bar Association of the City of New York's Committee on Securities Litigation Professional Issues Subcommittee.
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