Mark Lebovitch co-leads the firm's corporate governance litigation practice, focusing on the startup and conclusion stages of the practice’s derivative suits and transactional litigation. Working with his institutional investor clients, he fights to hold management accountable, pursuing meaningful and novel challenges to alleged corporate governance-related misconduct and anti-shareholder practices. A seasoned litigator, Mark also prosecutes securities fraud class actions and has been a senior or lead member of the trial teams on some of the most high-profile securities fraud class actions and corporate governance litigations in history. His cases regularly result in key legal precedents while helping recoup billions of dollars for investors and improving corporate governance practices.
Mark is leading numerous of the firm’s cases involving special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”), including claims in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, such as In re MultiPlan Stockholders’ Litigation, as well as a series of novel federal actions involving alleged violations of the Investment Company Act by a number of SPACs.
Most recently, Mark was part of the trial team that successfully invalidated a novel “anti-activism” poison pill in In re The Williams Companies Stockholder Litigation, and recently recovered $110 million for investors while eliminating side benefits in connection with the prosecution and settlement of Delaware litigation arising from the merger of GCI Liberty, Inc. Mark has argued numerous cases to the Delaware Supreme Court, most recently in fending off an interlocutory appeal intended to derail investor claims in In re Straight Path Stockholders Litigation.
Previously, Mark led the Allergan Proxy Violation Litigation, alleging an unprecedented insider trading scheme. After a ferocious three-year legal battle over an alleged attempt to circumvent the spirit of the U.S. securities laws, defendants accepted a $250 million settlement for Allergan investors. In 2017, before the birth of the #metoo movement, he led the prosecution of a novel and socially-important shareholder derivative litigation against Fox News parent 21st Century Fox, Inc. arising from the systemic sexual and workplace harassment at the embattled network. The case resulted in one of the largest financial recoveries–$90 million–ever obtained in a pure corporate board oversight dispute; and the creation of an independent council of experts–named the “Fox News Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council”– which has served as a model for public companies in all industries.
Mark prosecuted In re Freeport-McMoRan Derivative Litigation, which resulted in a $154 million recovery structured as a special dividend that would be distributed to shareholders—a first-of-its-kind result—to rectify the Freeport-McMoRan Board’s decision to significantly overpay for a firm controlled by the company’s CEO. He also served as lead counsel in the derivative case against News Corp. concerning its high-profile hacking scandal, which resulted in a $139 million recovery and corporate governance reforms that strengthened the company’s compliance structure, the independence of its board, and the company’s pay practices.
For these and other several other recent prosecutions, the New York Law Journal bestowed Mark with its most prestigious honor, naming him the 2019 “Attorney of the Year” at the New York Legal Awards. Among other industry leading recognitions, he has been named a “Leading Lawyer” by Lawdragon and a "Litigation Star" by Benchmark Litigation. He is also recognized as a top litigator by Chambers USA for what quoted sources describe as his “very smart” approach, along with his “particular strength in corporate governance litigation, focusing on shareholder derivative suits” and for being “absolutely fearless” and providing “great advocacy for his clients.” Mark has been named a Fellow at the American College of Governance Counsel, an invite-only membership that is extended to lawyers who have practiced law for a minimum of 15 years, while devoting at least 10 of those practice years focused on the field of governance.
* Not admitted to practice in Delaware.