Andrew J. Levander

Andrew J. Levander is Chair of the firm’s Policy Committee and a partner in the white collar and securities litigation group. A former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit, Mr. Levander is consistently recognized for excellence in the practice of law. Mr. Levander is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is widely considered to be the premier professional trial organization in the United States. Since 2004, he has been cited as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, a referral guide to leading lawyers in the United States based on the opinions of their peers and clients. In 2022, he was recognized by Law360 - for the eighth time - as a "White Collar MVP" for his headline-making representations.  In 2018, he was named as a "Litigator of the Year" by The American Lawyer for being a lawyer who has, “reshaped the law, the industries in which their clients operate and the way their colleagues in the bar approach cases.” Mr. Levander received the Chambers USA Award for Excellence in White Collar Crime & Government Investigations in both 2013 and 2010. He has also been honored by Law360, The Best Lawyers in America, Benchmark Litigation and The Legal 500 for his litigation skills.

Chambers has noted that Mr. Levander is a “superstar,” with commentators praising him as being “one of the great lawyers of our generation,” who does “remarkable work in front of the court,” and is a "brilliant, indefatigable and tenacious trial lawyer with impeccable judgment and unmatched negotiating skills." In Chambers Global, clients describe him as “a terrific oral advocate” for his trial practice. He is recognized by Chambers USA both in the New York region and nationally for securities litigation, most recently referred to as "the best lawyer in the city" who is “two steps ahead of everybody.” Mr. Levander is designated as a "Star Individual" for white collar crime and government investigations in New York and described as a "spectacular trial lawyer, counselor and adviser." Chambers USA also ranks him in Band 1 in their nationwide trial lawyers and securities regulation enforcement categories, describing him as "very smart, very talented and very strategic." In addition, Mr. Levander is recognized as a leading lawyer in both the securities shareholder litigation and white collar criminal defense sections of The Legal 500, which notes that he is repeatedly singled out as "ridiculously good" who has "visibility and big-ticket clients." The Legal 500 also recommends Mr. Levander for his commercial litigation practice and describes him as “one of the best lawyers in the country” and "a real leader in his field" who has “a well-deserved national reputation.”

Mr. Levander is highlighted annually by Benchmark Litigation as a “Litigation Star” in white-collar crime, general commercial and securities litigation and was also named to its “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America" for 2015 and 2016. Since 2006, he has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, White-Collar Criminal Defense, Regulatory Enforcement Litigation and Securities Litigation. He was recently named the Best Lawyers 2015 Corporate Compliance Law "Lawyer of the Year" in New York; described by Practical Law Company’s Which Lawyer? as a nationally recommended lawyer for dispute resolution and white collar investigations; named in 2009 by The Lawyer as one of the 25 “Transatlantic Elite;” and recognized as a top “bet the company” lawyer by Corporate Counsel. In 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Mr. Levander was recognized by Law360 as a "White Collar MVP" for his headline-making representations. In 2013, he was ranked in The International Who’s Who of Business Crime Defence Lawyers and Securities Docket included him on its inaugural “Enforcement 40” - a list of the 40 best and brightest securities enforcement defense lawyers. In 2014, Mr. Levander received the Milton S. Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy by the Office of the Appellate Defender. Mr. Levander has also been named to Global Investigations Review’s list of “Who’s Who Legal Investigations 2015.” In 2016, Mr. Levander received the Norman S. Ostrow Award from The New York Council of Defense Lawyers for fighting for his clients with vigor, dignity and expertise. And his successful defense of Michael Rigas in a six-month criminal trial in 2004 arising out of the collapse of Adelphia Communications was named to the "Top Cases of 2004" by New York Law Journal Magazine.

Mr. Levander represents parties in securities fraud and commercial litigation and criminal and regulatory 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 Robert Diamond, former CEO of Barclays, Lehman Brothers’ outside directors and John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Mr. Levander has been integrally involved in the management of headline crises for many diverse clients as Takata Corporation (airbag recalls), Twenty-First Century Fox (multiple sexual harassment claims), Jon S. Corzine (MF Global collapse); Hewlett-Packard’s special counsel committee (Hurd termination investigation); SAIC’s board (CityTime contract scandal); and Monster Worldwide (options backdating investigation and litigation). 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. Mr. Levander has regularly defended many public companies or their officers, directors and affiliates, including Arconic, CHC Group Ltd., General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, HNA Capital International, Hertz, Hewlett-Packard, MacAndrews & Forbes, Microsoft, Monster Worldwide, Motorola, M + W Group AG, NCR Corporation, NFP Corp., Omega Healthcare, PPG Industries, Valeant Inc., Walmart and The Witkoff Group.

He has also advised many of the leading financial institutions or their affiliates such as AIG, Aon, Bank of NY, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, GLG Man Group, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, the NYSE, RCS Capital Management LLC, Riverstone Holdings, Societe Generale and UBS. For example, in 2012, he led the defense of Deutsche Bank in a billion dollar False Claims Act case brought by the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York 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 tried more than 75 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, CPR, JAMS, the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers, UNCITRAL and private arbitrators. Mr. Levander also has extensive international litigation experience and has handled numerous investigations arising under the FCPA, the False Claims Act and similar statutes.

In September 2012, following a two-week bench trial, the New York Supreme Court rendered a sweeping victory to Mr. Levander’s clients, Ruby Schron and various entities he controls, in connection with a complex set of litigations involving the ownership and control of a multi-billion dollar nursing-home empire. Following three days of cross-examination by Mr. Levander, the Court expressly found that our adversaries were “evasive” and “mendacious” and that their explanations on the witness stand were incredible “prevarications” entitled to no weight. Subsequently, the lead adversary pleaded guilty to perjury related to that case and was disbarred. And in 2014, Mr. Levander successfully obtained a permanent injunction for a prominent New York real estate developer in a US$350 million contract dispute tried in Delaware Chancery Court.

Mr. Levander has also been successfully involved in numerous 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 US$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. More recently, Mr. Levander achieved substantial victories for a private equity firm and a bank in separate arbitrations involving complex contractual claims.

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. He also contributed the chapter, “Attorney-Client Privilege and Attorney Work Product Protection” to Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, published by Thomson Reuters Westlaw and the Association of Corporate Counsel, as well as a chapter in Latin Lawyer's Guide to Corporate Crisis Management on representing individual executives in Latin America. 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, Yale Law School, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 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.