Levin_Hallie

Hallie B. Levin

Partner

  • Co-Chair, Trial Practice

Hallie B. Levin, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, is a seasoned trial lawyer who serves as lead counsel on high-stakes commercial disputes in federal and state courts and arbitral tribunals. Ms. Levin represents clients in connection with a broad range of matters, including complex contractual disputes, antitrust cases, business torts, trade secrets cases, and high-stakes government investigations, including those brought by state Attorneys General. In recent years she won a resounding victory as co-lead trial counsel for clients T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom in a landmark antitrust trial in which Attorneys General from 13 states and the District of Columbia failed in their effort to enjoin the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. Ms. Levin examined critical witnesses at trial, including T-Mobile’s CEO and its President. Ms. Levin was named as Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer Litigation Daily and a Winning Litigator by The National Law Journal in 2020 for her work on the trial, and the favorable outcome was reported worldwide, including in The New York Times, the Wall Street JournalThe Financial Times and Bloomberg.

In 2021, Ms. Levin was again named Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer Litigation Daily after serving as lead trial counsel in a complete victory for T-Mobile in a breach of contract dispute against Cox Communications before the Delaware Court of Chancery. In 2021, Ms. Levin was also featured in The American Lawyer Litigation Daily as a Litigation Leader and was named among The American Lawyer's 2021 Northeast Trailblazers. She was honored in the 2020–2024 editions of Benchmark Litigation as one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation, a 2024 Top 100 Trial Attorney and General Commercial Litigator of the Year, 2021-2024 Litigation Star and a Top 10 Woman in Litigation. Levin was also ranked in the 2022–2024 editions of Chambers USA Guide for her general commercial litigation practice.

Her skills in the courtroom, her nuanced strategic insights and guidance, and her commitment to delivering efficient results have earned her the trust and loyalty of clients across a diversity of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, consumer products, hedge funds and media.

Professional Activities

Ms. Levin has demonstrated her commitment to improving the legal profession and system through her active leadership of some of New York’s most prominent professional organizations. She has served as Vice President of the New York City Bar Association, as well as the Chair of its Executive Committee. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Bar Council, and has also served as its Vice President and Secretary. She has also served as Vice President of the Federal Bar Foundation. She was a founding member of the Federal Bar Council Inn of Court and served as its membership chair.

Experience

  • In recent years, Ms. Levin has notably:

    • defended Reckitt Benckiser against claims of fraud and trade secret misappropriation in connection with an over-the-counter wellness product in the District of New Jersey. Following a four-week trial, the jury unanimously ruled in favor of Reckitt on all issues and denied plaintiffs’ claims for nearly $600 million in their entirety.
    • won a stunning victory as lead trial counsel for T-Mobile in a high-stakes contract dispute where the Delaware Chancery Court granted T-Mobile’s request to enjoin Cox Communications from partnering with any mobile network operator other than T-Mobile to provide wholesale wireless services to Cox. Ms. Levin was named a Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer Litigation Daily for her work on the trial.
    • served as lead trial counsel obtaining a complete victory for her clients, employees accused of breaching their contracts, conspiracy and misappropriating confidential information. Following extensive expedited discovery and a preliminary injunction hearing in the Southern District of New York, the court denied plaintiffs’ claims in their entirety and held that their case “fails as to the facts and the law.”
    • served as lead trial counsel for a major financial services firm in a FINRA arbitration involving claims of improper hiring, breach of fiduciary duty, and theft of confidential information. After merits hearings conducted over three months, the FINRA panel denied plaintiff's multimillion-dollar claims in their entirety and awarded 100% of the damages sought by the employees hired by the client. The favorable decision was reported in The Financial Times, Forbes and Bloomberg.
    • served as co-lead trial counsel in a four-month jury trial, one of the longest in the court's history, in New Jersey state court defending a prominent financial services company against billion-dollar claims of civil racketeering and unfair competition. The court dismissed plaintiff's civil racketeering claims after the close of evidence and the case settled favorably after Ms. Levin's summation while the jury was deliberating.
    • acted as co-lead trial counsel for one of the world's most prominent interdealer brokerage firms in eight consolidated FINRA arbitrations, defending against claims of "raiding," unfair competition, breach of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets and other business torts. The merits hearings spanned more than a year and a half, during which more than 70 witnesses were called to testify. The panel ultimately awarded plaintiffs a fraction of the damages they sought, and awarded significant damages to the employees hired by the client.
    • defended a major telecommunications company against federal and state gender discrimination claims filed in the Southern District of New York. Ms. Levin achieved dismissal of plaintiff's claims in their entirety on summary judgment.
    • represented a Special Committee of the Board of Directors of a leading financial services firm in investigating errors in the firm's public reporting. The representation included more than 60 witness interviews followed by a report by Ms. Levin to the firm's Board.
    • defended a major financial services company in a licensing and copyright infringement dispute brought by IBM arising out of a compliance audit. Ms. Levin successfully avoided the imposition of summary judgment against the client and defeated claims for more than $100 million in profit disgorgement damages under the Copyright Act. Ms. Levin's adversaries were described as “Legal Lambs” by Law360.
    • served as lead counsel defending a prominent hedge fund against multimillion-dollar claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and other business torts. Ms. Levin achieved dismissal of all claims before the New York State trial court and gained affirmance of that victory before the Appellate Division.
    • represented one of the country's largest wireless carriers in a nationwide class action alleging claims for breach of contract, fraud and violation of consumer protection statutes.
    • represented an Ivy League university in defending against allegations of improper denial of tenure.

Recognition

  • Award Text

    Fellow

    American College of Trial Lawyers

    2023

  • Award Text

    Ranked in General Commercial Litigation

    Chambers

    2022-2024

  • Award Text

    Top 10 Women in Litigation

    Benchmark Litigation

    2024

  • Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a “General Commercial Litigator of the Year” (2024), “Top 100 Trial Attorney” (2024), “Litigation Star” (2021-2024), “Top 250 Women in Litigation” (2020-2024) and a "Top 10 Woman in Litigation" (2024), a list that annually recognizes the most distinguished women in litigation.
  • Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
  • Ranked in the 20222024 editions of Chambers USA Guide for her general commercial litigation practice.
  • Featured in The American Lawyer Litigation Daily in 2021 as a Litigation Leader.
  • Featured as a Litigator of the Week in The American Lawyer Litigation Daily in 2020 and 2021.
  • Named a 2021 Northeast Trailblazer by The American Lawyer.
  • Named a 2020 Winning Litigator by The National Law Journal.
  • Commended in the 2018, 20212024 editions of The Legal 500 United States in the “Dispute Resolution - General Commercial Disputes” category.
  • Named to the 2013–2023 New York Super Lawyers lists, as well as the 2011 Super Lawyers Rising Stars list, for her exceptional business litigation practice.
  • Named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America list.

Insights & News

Credentials

  • Education

    • JD, Harvard Law School, 1996

      cum laude

      Editor, Harvard Law Review

    • BA, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1993

      summa cum laude

      Phi Beta Kappa

  • Admissions

    • New York

    • US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

    • US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

    • US District Court for the Southern District of New York

    • US District Court for the Eastern District of New York

    • US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

  • Clerkships

    • The Hon. David Trager, US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1996 - 1997

Credentials

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