LEVINE LEE - Key Persons
Alison M. Bonelli is an experienced litigator who has handled some of the firm's most significant white collar defense and complex civil litigation matters.
Ms. Bonelli's white collar practice includes representation of both individuals and entities in DOJ, SEC, and FINRA proceedings. Notably, in recent years, Ms. Bonelli has played a key role in the firm's defense of individuals in high-profile federal criminal trials.
As to her civil practice, Ms. Bonelli has represented individuals and entities in complex civil actions involving securities litigation, class action litigation, bankruptcy litigation, contract disputes, and intellectual property litigation.
Ms. Bonelli clerked for the late Hon. William H. Pauley III of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining Levine Lee, Ms. Bonelli worked at Milbank LLP. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School (cum laude) and Georgetown University (cum laude).
Alison M. Bonelli is an experienced litigator who has handled some of the firm's most significant white collar defense and complex civil litigation matters. Ms. Bonelli's white collar practice includes representation of both individuals and entities in DOJ, SEC, and FINRA proceedings. Notably, in recent years, Ms. Bonelli has played a key role in the … Read more
Allison Markowitz practices in the areas of complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Markowitz was an associate at Milbank LLP. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law & Business Review) and The George Washington University (summa cum laude).
Aria Smith is a Legal Analyst and works with the attorneys on all aspects of litigation and trial preparation. Ms. Smith is a graduate of New York University where she majored in International Relations with minor concentrations in Business and Italian.
Chad Albert is an experienced litigator who has handled some of the firm's most prominent securities litigation matters, Board and special committee assignments, and securities-related white collar representations. He has been recognized in Lawdragon's 2023 "The Next Generation" guide of lawyers who have "vaunted to the forefront of the legal profession," and in Benchmark Litigation's 2023 "40 and Under" list of the "top emerging talent in litigation."
In recent years, Mr. Albert has successfully defended numerous corporations against federal securities class actions, including in securing dismissal of all claims against the Dogecoin Foundation, Inc., in a purported $258 billion class action brought in the Southern District of New York against Dogecoin, Elon Musk, and Tesla, Inc. Current representations include a worldwide media conglomerate, a major cannabis company, and several current and former officers and directors of public companies. Mr. Albert has also handled private litigations involving complex securities issues in various federal trial and appellate courts.
In addition, Mr. Albert has represented companies, Boards of Directors, and independent Board committees in connection with internal investigations, shareholder disputes, and derivative actions. Current representations include the Demand Review Committee of the Board of Apollo Global Management in an investigation of shareholder claims; the Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Xerox Holdings Corporation in a shareholder derivative action involving allegations of insider trading by Carl Icahn; a Director of Bumble, Inc., in a derivative litigation involving Blackstone, Inc.'s sale of $1 billion in Bumble stock; and Stability AI, a leading artificial intelligence company, in a Delaware Chancery dispute surrounding a minority stockholder's sale of a significant stake in the company.
Chad Albert is an experienced litigator who has handled some of the firm's most prominent securities litigation matters, Board and special committee assignments, and securities-related white collar representations. He has been recognized in Lawdragon's 2023 "The Next Generation" guide of lawyers who have "vaunted to the forefront of the legal profession," and in Benchmark Litigation's … Read more
Hannah Landau is a Legal Analyst and works with the attorneys on all aspects of litigation and trial preparation. Ms. Landau is a graduate of Yale University where she majored in Italian Studies
Heather Jones practices in the areas of complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. Prior to joining Levine Lee, Ms. Jones worked on complex litigation matters and government investigations at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Ms. Jones is a graduate of American University Washington College of Law and Virginia Tech.
Jocelyn Feliciano is a Legal Analyst and works with the attorneys on all aspects of litigation and trial preparation. Ms. Feliciano is a graduate of Dickinson College where she majored in Law & Policy and Political Science.
Julia Timerman practices in the areas of complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Timerman was a litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she also externed in the Immigration Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society. She is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (cum laude; Executive Editor, The Georgetown Law Journal) and Tufts University.
Julie-Irene Nkodo practices in the areas of complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Nkodo clerked for the Hon. Hector Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and was previously an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. She is a graduate of Columbia Law School (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Diversity Editor, Columbia Law Review), Université Paris 1- Panthéon Sorbonne (LL.M.), University of London-SOAS (M.A., Human Rights Law), and Princeton University.
Kenneth E. Lee is recognized as one of the nation's most highly respected lawyers for bet-the-company disputes, complex business litigation, securities litigation, corporate governance disputes, and complex internal investigations. Lawdragon has recognized Mr. Lee on its list of the "2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America" and "2024 500 Leading Litigators in America." The 2023 Chambers USA Guide similarly ranked Mr. Lee individually as among the nation's top practitioners in Securities Litigation, and the 2024 edition of Benchmark Litigation recognizes him as a "Litigation Star." Significantly, under his leadership, Levine Lee became the only boutique in the United States to be ranked by the 2023 Chambers USA Guide as one of the nation's top law firms in Securities Litigation, and was ranked in the 2024 edition of Benchmark Litigation's highest category for Dispute Resolution-one of the few boutiques to achieve that top designation. As Chambers writes, Mr. Lee is "regularly retained by public company clients on significant securities" matters, has "an encyclopedic knowledge of legal matters," and "spearheads strategic decision making" for his clients in "delicate" and "sensitive" situations.
Mr. Lee is frequently called on to handle the most sensitive matters for major clients throughout the world. Recently, Mr. Lee has served as lead counsel for the Demand Review Committee of the Board of Apollo Global Management in an investigation of shareholder claims; the Compensation Committee of the Board of Apollo with respect to corporate governance and compensation issues; the Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Xerox in a shareholder derivative action involving allegations of insider trading by Carl Icahn, at the time Xerox's largest shareholder; a Director of Bumble, in a derivative litigation involving Blackstone's sale of $1 billion in Bumble stock; Stability AI, a leading artificial intelligence company and one of the fastest startup companies to reach $1 billion in valuation, in corporate governance and litigation matters; and an individual in a dispute involving one of the largest privately held art collections in the country.
Given his effectiveness, Mr. Lee is repeatedly retained by the same clients to handle the major disputes they face. In recent years, he has served as primary outside counsel to leading Indian media company, Eros Media World plc, and its largest shareholder, Kishore Lulla, across a variety of subject matter disputes, including the defense of a $400 million securities class action; defense of a $100 million Video Privacy Protection Act class action; an SEC investigation; a lawsuit against short-selling firms; and a corporate control dispute, which resulted in a corporate spinoff.
Throughout his prominent representations, Mr. Lee has achieved significant victories for his clients under the most challenging circumstances. Mr. Lee represented the Lehman Brothers Inc. Bankruptcy Trustee in a $40 billion dispute with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and negotiated a settlement which was deemed by the Bankruptcy Court to be "a comprehensive consensual resolution of one of the most complex matters ever to be resolved in history." In 2022, Mr. Lee represented a major media company in successfully opposing an ex-parte Temporary Restraining Order and fending off a hostile takeover attempt. And, previously, having been engaged as appellate counsel by a New York real estate developer to appeal one of the largest sanctions awards ever issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, following his oral argument, he obtained a reversal and vacatur by unanimous decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
In prior years, Mr. Lee represented the Lehman Trustee in a $6 billion case against Barclays, an $83 million case against Deutsche Bank, and a $98 million case against Wells Fargo; the Bankruptcy Trustee for MF Global in a $20 million case against an affiliate of Koch Industries; and Expedia Group, Sterling Bancorp, and Lazard in significant litigation matters.
Mr. Lee began his career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP after graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, where he received the Thomas Mulroy prize for oral advocacy and the Tony Patiño Fellowship, and Harvard College.
Mr. Lee serves on Majority Leader Schumer's Judicial Screening Panel. He is a member of the Federal Bar Council and the Asian American Bar Association of New York, and has served on a number of non-profit boards.
Kenneth E. Lee is recognized as one of the nation's most highly respected lawyers for bet-the-company disputes, complex business litigation, securities litigation, corporate governance disputes, and complex internal investigations. Lawdragon has recognized Mr. Lee on its list of the "2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America" and "2024 500 Leading Litigators in America." The 2023 … Read more
Paul Murphy's practice focuses on representing individuals and entities in government investigations, criminal prosecutions, internal investigations, and complex civil litigation. Mr. Murphy has represented directors and officers, executives, fund managers, entrepreneurs, chief compliance officers, and other professionals in connection with federal criminal prosecutions and investigations, as well as regulatory enforcement matters involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and other government agencies. He also has skillfully navigated clients through high-stakes internal investigations. He focuses on matters involving allegations of securities and commodities fraud, health care fraud, and corporate malfeasance, and he has deep experience in cross-border investigations and prosecutions involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") and international fraud schemes from his more than 14 years of experience as a federal prosecutor. Mr. Murphy is an experienced trial lawyer, having conducted numerous trials in federal criminal and civil cases. He advocates on behalf of his clients with a keen sense of discretion and an appreciation of the importance of steering clients through difficult situations without any charges being filed.
From 2014 to 2019, Mr. Murphy served in the U.S Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, where he became the Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit. He worked for the previous nine years in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, where he served as Deputy Chief of the Financial and Public Corruption Unit. His work in both offices spanned securities fraud, tax evasion, wire fraud, market manipulation schemes, investment adviser fraud, commodities fraud, FCPA violations, international bank fraud schemes, and money laundering. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Murphy conducted and supervised major white collar criminal prosecutions involving an array of complex business crimes at publicly traded companies, hedge funds, and financial institutions. Mr. Murphy joined the Department of Justice days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, working on international terrorism investigations.
Mr. Murphy began his career as a law clerk for the Honorable Joseph M. McLaughlin of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and then was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP. Most recently, he was a partner at a boutique firm in New York. Mr. Murphy graduated from St. John's University School of Law cum laude, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, and received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
Paul Murphy's practice focuses on representing individuals and entities in government investigations, criminal prosecutions, internal investigations, and complex civil litigation. Mr. Murphy has represented directors and officers, executives, fund managers, entrepreneurs, chief compliance officers, and other professionals in connection with federal criminal prosecutions and investigations, as well as regulatory enforcement matters involving the U.S. Securities … Read more
Scott B. Klugman is a trial lawyer in civil and criminal matters, with substantial experience before judges and juries. His primary areas of practice include commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense, government enforcement proceedings, internal investigations and appellate litigation. His white collar and government enforcement practice has included representing both individuals and entities in DOJ, SEC, FINRA, OCC and state governmental matters. As to his civil practice, he has represented individuals and entities in complex civil actions involving securities litigation, class action litigation, bankruptcy litigation, contract disputes and Fair Labor Standards Act claims.
Mr. Klugman previously served as the Deputy Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he was a federal prosecutor for ten years. In that capacity, he supervised several high-profile corporate fraud investigations and prosecutions, including cases involving securities fraud, accounting fraud, FCPA violations, health care fraud, insider trading, bank and lending fraud and commercial bribery. Mr. Klugman also served as the Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section and Lead Task Force Attorney to the El Dorado Task Force, a multi-agency task force that investigated money laundering and criminal violations of the banking laws. In these positions, he developed an expertise in Bank Secrecy Act compliance and federal wiretap procedures.
Before entering government service, Mr. Klugman was with the firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, where his practice was focused on complex civil and criminal litigation. Mr. Klugman is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Order of the Coif, Articles Editor, Law Review, Order of the Barristers) and the Pennsylvania State University (B.S., mechanical engineering). After law school, he clerked for the Hon. Joseph J. Longobardi in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Mr. Klugman has been named in New York SuperLawyers®. He has also been recognized by The Legal 500.
Scott B. Klugman is a trial lawyer in civil and criminal matters, with substantial experience before judges and juries. His primary areas of practice include commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense, government enforcement proceedings, internal investigations and appellate litigation. His white collar and government enforcement practice has included representing both individuals and entities in DOJ, … Read more
Seth L. Levine is a trial and appellate lawyer who focuses his practice on complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. He is often called upon to provide representation and strategic counsel in high-stakes litigation matters and other crisis situations. Chambers USA has described Mr. Levine as "incredibly impressive, a zealous advocate and a pleasure to work with." In addition to his practice, Mr. Levine is also actively involved in the legal community, and currently serves as the President of the Federal Bar Foundation.
Mr. Levine represents clients in a wide variety of the most challenging litigation matters. With respect to White Collar matters, Mr. Levine defends clients in high-profile actions and investigations brought by federal, state and local prosecutors and regulators, and in internal investigations. These matters have involved a wide range of issues such as securities, accounting and the financial markets, insider trading, antitrust, healthcare, bank secrecy, money laundering, banking practices, financial fraud, intellectual property and political activities. In his civil practice, Mr. Levine handles a variety of complex matters including securities and derivative litigation, antitrust, the Fair Labor Standards Act, contract disputes, business torts and other commercial matters. The Legal 500 has described Mr. Levine as a "tenacious and creative advocate who is 100% committed to his clients and their best interests," "a fighter" who "inspires respect on the part of prosecutors and his colleagues in the defense bar," and a "tireless" advocate who "will leave no stone unturned."
Mr. Levine served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he directed complex investigations, tried cases and argued appeals relating to securities and accounting fraud, bank, wire, healthcare and tax fraud, racketeering and money laundering. Mr. Levine received the Director's Award from the U.S. Department of Justice for superior performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
After his government service, Mr. Levine was a partner at Foley & Lardner LLP where he served as the Vice-Chair of the Securities Litigation, Enforcement and Regulation Practice Group. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Levine practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where he focused on antitrust and other complex litigation and counseling matters.
Mr. Levine graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and the University of Rochester. After law school, he clerked for the Hon. Barbara B. Crabb, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Mr. Levine has been recognized by many publications, including Chambers USA, The Legal 500, and Benchmark Litigation. He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, the Guide to the World's Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers; as one of the top 100 lawyers in New York by New York SuperLawyers 100®; and as one of Lawdragon's 2024 500 Leading Litigators in America.
Seth L. Levine is a trial and appellate lawyer who focuses his practice on complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. He is often called upon to provide representation and strategic counsel in high-stakes litigation matters and other crisis situations. Chambers USA has described Mr. Levine as "incredibly impressive, a zealous advocate … Read more
The 2024 edition of Benchmark Litigation recognizes Seth L. Levine, Kenneth E. Lee, and Scott B. Klugman as "Litigation Stars," and recognizes Chad P. Albert on the "40 and Under" list of the "top emerging talent in litigation."
Seth L. Levine and Kenneth E. Lee were named to both Lawdragon's 2024 list of the "500 Leading Lawyers in America" and Lawdragon's 2024 list of the "500 Leading Litigators in America," and Chad P. Albert was named to Lawdragon's 2023 "The Next Generation" guide.
Professor Steven L. Chanenson is one of the nation's leading scholars in the areas of criminal law and sentencing. He serves as Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the David F. and Constance B. Girard-diCarlo Center for Ethics, Integrity and Compliance at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University. Earlier in his career, Professor Chanenson served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in the Criminal Division, practiced in the litigation department of Jenner & Block LLP, and clerked for Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court while also serving in the chambers of Justice David H. Souter. His practice at Levine Lee focuses on complex issues in white collar and securities enforcement defense.
Professor Steven L. Chanenson is one of the nation's leading scholars in the areas of criminal law and sentencing. He serves as Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the David F. and Constance B. Girard-diCarlo Center for Ethics, Integrity and Compliance at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University. Earlier in his … Read more
Steven Kessler practices in the areas of complex civil litigation and white collar and securities enforcement defense. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Kessler clerked for the Hon. Allison D. Burroughs of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and was previously an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law (Order of the Coif; editorial board, Virginia Law Review) and the University of Virginia.