Senior Counsel

Mark S. Levinstein

Mark Levinstein Photo

Mark Levinstein has a wide-ranging litigation practice that encompasses antitrust law, business litigation, and professional liability defense.  His practice also includes legal counseling, with an emphasis on corporate governance and compliance.  Mr. Levinstein also has a robust sports practice, and represents numerous clients in crisis situations.

In some three decades at the law firm, Mr. Levinstein has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts, and handled litigation at the trial and appellate levels.  In addition to antitrust and sports, his legal subject matter has spanned contract law, employment discrimination, franchise, intellectual property, professional liability, labor, RICO, FCPA, torts, unfair competition, and general commercial cases.

Mr. Levinstein has been one of the leaders of the Williams & Connolly antitrust and business litigation practices since the mid-1980s, representing clients in civil disputes and in a wide range of dealings with federal and state government antitrust enforcement agencies in both the civil and criminal arenas. He has worked with major corporations in more than sixty different industries on preparing and putting into place antitrust compliance programs, providing advice on the antitrust implications of business initiatives, investigating allegations of internal antitrust violations, and defending mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and other conduct when challenged by government enforcers or private parties.

Mr. Levinstein has a varied sports law practice, which includes representation of businesses and individuals in litigation, arbitration, negotiation, and business planning. In addition to athletes, Mr. Levinstein has represented players associations, sports teams, owners and leagues, national governing bodies, sponsors, licensees, universities, front office personnel, coaches, scouts, agents, management companies and event producers. His sports practice involves professional, Olympic, collegiate and amateur sports. 

Much of Mr. Levinstein's sports practice has involved controversy work — representing sports clients before and during arbitration, litigation, and trial. He has also formed sports-related businesses, negotiated collective bargaining agreements as well as personal service, Internet, television, licensing, marketing, sponsorship, and endorsement agreements. He has counseled clients on the formation, ownership, management, expansion, and marketing of professional sports leagues, the purchase, sale, relocation, and financing of professional sports teams, and the financing and leasing of professional sports stadia and arenas.

Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Levinstein grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and graduated from the University of Virginia as part of its Economic Honors Program in 1979. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and then clerked for Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts before joining Williams & Connolly in 1983. Mr. Levinstein’s pro bono work includes serving as the chair of the board of Athletes for Hope, a non-profit philanthropic organization that he founded in 2006. He is a co-author of Sports Law: Cases and Materials (2d. ed. 2007).

Since 1985, Mr. Levinstein has taught classes in antitrust and sports law as an adjunct professor, first at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University, then at the George Washington University National Law Center, and most recently at Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Levinstein has been listed as one of "Washington's Top Lawyers" by Washingtonian magazine since 2006, and since 2007, has been selected as one of "The Best Lawyers in America" and recognized in the 2013 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in sports law.

Education

Clerkships

Recognitions

Recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America ®, 2007-2021

“Washington, D.C. Sports Law Lawyer of the Year,” The Best Lawyers in America ®, 2017, 2021

Selected to SportsBusiness Journal’s Power Players: Outside Counsel, 2016

“Sports Law (Nationwide),” Chambers USA, 2007-2013

"Washington’s Best Lawyers," Washingtonian magazine, 2006 and 2013

Admissions

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