Preeminent Shareholder Lawyer Mark Lebovitch Returns to Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann to Co-Lead Corporate Governance Practice

Lebovitch, regarded as one of the nation’s leading shareholder advocates, formerly practiced at BLB&G for 19 years; becomes co-head of governance group alongside prominent Delaware trial lawyer Greg Varallo

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading international investor law firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP announced that former partner Mark Lebovitch is returning to the firm as Special Governance Counsel to co-head its Department of Governance practice.

Mr. Lebovitch is regarded as one of the country’s preeminent shareholder advocates, having represented shareholders and investors – including public and private institutions – in a long list of groundbreaking lawsuits and appraisal actions. He founded BLB&G’s corporate governance practice in 2006 and launched the Delaware office in 2019. His return to active practice is especially important in the face of numerous challenges facing shareholders on the governance front, including harmful statutory overhauls in Delaware and multiple other states.

In addition to helping secure billions of dollars in favorable investor recoveries, he led numerous cases that transformed governance conduct at major corporations, including challenges to anti-activism poison pills, dead-hand proxy puts and conflict-laden SPAC transactions, among a variety of novel and complex breach of fiduciary duty claims against corporate insiders.

Since retiring from BLB&G in the fall of 2023, he has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he co-teaches “Advanced Topics in Corporate Law,” and is a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, where he co-teaches a unique course entitled “Legal Financial Arbitrage-Mergers and Beyond.” He also served as a senior advisor with the National Jewish Action Center.

Mr. Lebovitch will co-direct BLB&G’s governance group alongside senior partner Greg Varallo, whom Mr. Lebovitch helped bring to the firm in 2019 and who also remains head of the firm’s Delaware office.

Mr. Varallo has been at the forefront of Delaware-related litigation throughout his 40-year career, most recently including the firm’s ongoing case challenging Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s 2018 compensation package. Mr. Varallo served as the lead trial counsel in securing a judgment against Musk, invalidating his nearly $55 billion compensation package, most recently arguing the appeal before the Delaware Supreme Court. Greg also recently argued the Delaware Supreme Court challenge to the constitutionality of Senate Bill 21, which undermines shareholder rights and narrows the Court of Chancery’s authority to oversee corporate disputes.

Commenting on his return to practice, Mr. Lebovitch said, “Over 17 years, I dedicated everything I had to build BLB&G’s governance platform with legal sophistication, determination and integrity to bring novel claims to vindicate and expand stockholder rights. For the past two years, I traded the courtroom for the classroom, merger-related investing and volunteer work. Last week, the mission of helping in the renewal and strengthening of the department I built for nearly two decades suddenly emerged.”

He added, “I am thrilled to rejoin and co-lead the governance practice with my good friend Greg Varallo, truly one of the lions of Delaware law. Helping BLB&G continue the fight for investors rights became an inescapable decision for me.”

“I’m excited by Mark’s return as we continue our work on behalf of shareholders and other investors in bringing impactful governance cases in Delaware and around the country to protect their interests and rights,” Mr. Varallo said. “Mark and I are committed to devoting the full resources of the firm to prosecuting cases for our clients and advocating for shareholders.”

BLB&G founding partner Max Berger also welcomed Mr. Lebovitch’s return. “Many companies probably breathed a sigh of relief when Mark stepped aside in 2023 to pursue his interests in teaching. I am delighted that his DNA pulled him back to our firm to pursue our important governance work on behalf of shareholders” he said. “It will be heartening to know he is once again part of our teams representing investors in high-stakes corporate governance and other investor litigation and disputes.”

Mr. Lebovitch will continue to teach, consult hedge funds on legal arbitrage trading opportunities and contribute thought leadership on governance matters through academic institutes.

ABOUT BLB&G
Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP prosecutes class and private actions on behalf of individual and institutional clients worldwide. Since its founding in 1983, the firm has recovered more than $40 billion for harmed investors and secured precedent-setting corporate governance reforms. BLB&G is widely recognized as a preeminent litigation firm with a deep commitment to investor protection and corporate responsibility.