Vincent Levy

Vincent Levy acts as lead counsel to sophisticated clients in trial and appellate courts, as well as arbitration proceedings, primarily in complex-commercial disputes. He has presented oral argument in the Supreme Court of the United States and various courts of appeals, and has led and co-led trial teams in jury and bench trials, as well as arbitration hearings.

Clients and peers observe he “‘can tackle the toughest legal issues and explain them in clear compelling briefs,’” and “is ‘just a brilliant attorney.’” The National Law Journal included him on its Elite Boutique Trailblazer list in 2018, while the New York Law Journal included him on its inaugural Trailblazer list in 2019 and named him a Rising Star in 2017. He has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation (every year since 2017), and Super Lawyers (every year since 2015).

Vincent has experience advising clients pursuing or facing claims under or related to, among others, antitrust law, state and federal administrative law, state corporate law, state contract and tort law, trade-secret statute, federal arbitration law, public and private international law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, federal securities laws and regulations, the Bankruptcy Code, the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970, and Section 1782. He has substantial experience as lead counsel in complex transnational disputes, including in U.S. court proceedings related to foreign litigation or arbitration matters, and in arbitrations under various arbitral rules, including the AAA, ICC, and LCIA, as well as ad hoc rules. His clients have included public and private businesses (such as MacAndrews & Forbes, H.I.G., Goldman Sachs, Visa, HP, and TiVo), hedge funds, prominent law firms, public-interest organizations, foreign sovereigns, and individuals (including current and former directors of companies, such as Sears and Codere SA).

Vincent has acted as counsel of record in high-profile matters in the U.S. Supreme Court, representing elected officials, academics, and organizations in cases raising important issues of constitutional, administrative, and statutory law. Justice Kagan quoted the firm’s amicus brief on behalf of a bipartisan group of 65 legislators in her dissenting opinion in Rucho v. Common Cause as well as her separate opinion in Whitford v. Gill, while SCOTUSblog singled out the firm’s amicus brief on behalf of the Brennan Center in Benisek v. Lamone as a worthy example of an “‘impact’ brief that . . . focuses on whether a particular ruling from the Supreme Court would be administrable or proposes a more manageable alternative.”

Vincent is pro bono partner at HSG, and also maintains an active pro bono practice. Among other things, he led a team of HSG lawyers that secured the first injunction against the second iteration of President Trump’s travel ban on behalf of an asylee in Wisconsin seeking derivative-asylum status for his wife and young child.

Vincent served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court and to then-Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the D.C. Circuit. Before joining Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, Vincent was a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He received his law degree from Columbia Law School where he was awarded the John Ordronaux Prize for the highest grade-point average in his graduating class. He has also studied and taught mathematical economics at the London School of Economics.

Noteworthy

• Recognized as a 2024 Super Lawyer by New York Metro Super Lawyers
• Recognized on Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America List
• Served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star
• Named a 2017 New York Law Journal Rising Star and Included on Inaugural Trailblazer List in 2019

Notable Cases

• Co-lead trial counsel for aerospace start-up Zunum Aero Inc., winning a jury verdict finding Boeing liable for $81.3 million for misappropriating substantial trade secrets related to the development of electric and hybrid-electric aircrafts. Post-verdict proceedings are ongoing. The initial verdict was reported upon in Forbes, Reuters, MSN, the Seattle Times, and various legal publications.
• H.I.G. Capital LLC, a private equity firm, in Delaware state court litigation asserting claims against the Audax Group, another private equity firm, for fraud in connection with the $900 million+ sale of a portfolio company in 2022.
• Lead counsel for Portuguese-held company in commercial dispute with Republic of Angola and GE, in federal court and international-arbitration proceedings under the LCIA and ICC Rules, concerning the termination of contracts worth more than $1 billion and seizure of property.
• Lead counsel for holders of defaulted debt issued by the Democratic Republic of Congo, in enforcement proceedings related to a $100 million judgment issued by the Southern District of New York.
• Lead counsel for Sealed Air as defendant in securities litigation in the Southern District of New York.
• Lead counsel for Vivendi and subsidiaries, as defendants facing contract-breach and tortious-interference claims in New York Supreme Court, Commercial Division.
• Lead counsel for individuals and entities in multiple proceedings seeking or resisting discovery under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, including in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Trial counsel for Valassis, a MacAndrews & Forbes company, as plaintiff in litigation against News and its subsidiaries alleging federal and state antitrust violations, unfair competition, and tortious interference seeking more than $600 million in damages. Valassis defeated summary judgment and then reached a confidential settlement during jury deliberations following a nearly three-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York in July 2021.
• Holders of defaulted Argentine debt as settling plaintiffs in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit, in support of the Republic of Argentina’s contested and successful effort to lift the pari passuinjunction that our clients and other “holdout” bondholders had obtained against Argentina.
• One of the world’s most pre-eminent law firms and two of its partners, in their defense of high-profile malpractice claims and related litigation, securing dismissal on the papers, which was affirmed by the Second Circuit.
• An international law firm in litigation proceedings and in confidential disputes.
• TiVo in contract disputes with cable providers.
• XPO Logistics, in litigation with Elliott Management arising from XPO’s acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle, S.A.
• Promontory Financial Group in connection with an investigation by the New York Department of Financial Services.
• Hewlett-Packard in securities-fraud, derivative, and ERISA litigation arising out of multi-billion-dollar write-down of its acquisition of Autonomy Corporation plc.
• Multiple public companies (including NYSE Euronext, Saks, and Sunoco) and their directors in shareholder litigation related to M&A transactions, in both state and federal court.
• Forest Laboratories in litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery arising from a proxy contest mounted by Carl Ichan.
• Tory Burch and Tory Burch LLC in litigation with J. Christopher Burch and C. Wonder LLC in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
• Vulcan Materials in expedited trial seeking and obtaining injunction barring hostile acquisition in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and on expedited appeal affirming judgment.
• JPMorgan Chase in litigation arising from the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers Holdings and Lehman Brothers, Inc.
• Airgas, in litigation with Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. in the Delaware Court of Chancery over Airgas’s deployment of a poison pill.
• A Swiss bank in connection with the liquidation of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
• Public companies, including a major financial institution, in various proceedings commenced by state attorneys general, including multistate investigations, arbitrations, settlement negotiations, and litigation matters.