Read a complete profile of Attorney of the Year Mark Lebovitch from the New York Law Journal here.

Mark Lebovitch, a partner at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman who heads the firm's corporate governance litigation practice, is this year's recipient of the New York Law Journal's Attorney of the Year award. 

Lebovitch is the attorney behind several high-profile cases involving the rights of shareholders, like one against Fox News over claims of sexual harassment and discrimination at the network.

That wasn't always his strategy in life; Lebovitch will tell you he's never had a five- or 10- year plan, but he's always had an eye toward innovation and the spirit of an entrepreneur. That's what drove him to launch the corporate governance practice at Bernstein Litowitz.

Ironically, Lebovitch never saw himself pursuing a career in the legal profession, at least in the long-term. His plan was to practice law long enough to pay off his student loans, then switch to some kind of entrepreneurial work, like a tech company.

That changed when Lebovitch took a class on corporate law while he was studying at NYU Law School in the late 1990s. He later clerked with Stephen Lamb, vice chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery. The rest is history.

Lebovitch has worked for more than a decade at Bernstein Litowitz, where he's yet to shy away from a challenging case on behalf of investors.

Lebovitch, in recent years, led a case against the parent company of Fox News on behalf of shareholders over claims that the network allowed a persistent culture of sexual harassment and discrimination. That resulted in a $90 million recovery for shareholders and stronger oversight at the network.

In another case, Lebovitch represented shareholders in a lawsuit against Yahoo over the company's failure to disclose a major data breach. Lebovitch argued, successfully, that the company's actions put its investors at risk. The case ended with a $29 million recovery.

His firm's corporate governance practice, which was nonexistent before Lebovitch pushed it to grow, got another boost this year. Bernstein Litowitz is now opening an office in Delaware, one of the most important jurisdictions for corporate governance litigation in the country.

Read a complete profile of Attorney of the Year Mark Lebovitch from the New York Law Journal here.

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