Alston & Bird Adds Senior Trial Attorney Jason Levine as Partner in Washington, D.C.

Alston & Bird has expanded its antitrust and commercial litigation capabilities with the addition of senior trial attorney Jason Levine as a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Levine arrives from Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he was a partner for eight years.

A versatile first-chair trial and courtroom lawyer for 24 years, Levine has spent his career litigating high-stakes business cases and defending against bet-the-company antitrust class actions. He has tried 14 jury, bench, and arbitral trials across the country and served as lead counsel in a wide array of commercial disputes encompassing all manner of contract and business tort claims. Complementing his trial practice, Levine has also briefed more than two dozen cases on appeal, including in the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Jason excels in complicated cases for large corporate clients that are thorny enough to present a strong potential to go to trial,” said Dan Diffley, Alston & Bird partner and co-chair of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. “Jason’s tenacity and trial-readiness have also yielded his clients many significant ‘eve of trial’ settlements.”

A high-stakes trial lawyer, Levine has represented companies as both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes, including cases seeking money damages from the federal government. He has also served as lead defense counsel to major global companies in several of the country’s largest antitrust class actions and multidistrict proceedings involving claims of price-fixing in the technology industry. Additionally, he often advises and represents clients in exigent matters involving injunctive relief.

Among his recent victories, Levine was lead trial counsel to a global shipbuilder in winning the award of a $1.5 billion subcontract for naval warships in a two-part international arbitration trial against the prime contractor, a large multinational defense firm; he served as lead counsel to more than 225 dialysis clinics in litigation against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for years of underpayment for dialysis services provided to veterans and secured a close-to-trial settlement of $538 million; and he tried to a jury a $100 million breach of contract case filed against a Fortune 500 client by a former business partner, winning a full defense verdict on the plaintiffs’ claim and a summary judgment award of $14 million for his client on its own affirmative claim.

A frequent commentator on litigation risks in the high-tech industry, Levine is also active in legal and professional circles. He is a member of the Liability Reform Litigation Advisory Committee of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and serves on the Executive Committee of the Litigation Practice Group of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. A former adjunct professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center, he also clerked for the Hon. Randall R. Rader, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

“Jason brings exceptional litigation capabilities to our Washington office and broader antitrust and commercial litigation practices,” said Dennis Garris, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C. office. “He is one of Washington’s best all-around litigators whose extensive experience in complex antitrust disputes and strengths as a trial lawyer are well complemented by his commitment to outstanding client service.”

Levine is the most recent addition to Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C. office. He follows Kathleen Benway, who joined in December from Wilkinson Barker Knauer as government investigations partner; Richard Slowinski, who joined from Baker McKenzie as tax partner in October; and Jane Lucas, who joined in September from the White House as public policy and health care counsel.

Source:  www.alston.com