WilmerHale Partner Hallie B. Levin was featured by Litigation Daily as one of its “Litigators of the Week” for her success in defending the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint in a widely watched antitrust trial in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Ms. Levin, based in the firm’s New York office, was one of three lawyers from as many firms recognized for their victory over the state attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia. The Attorneys General sought to block the merger even after it had already won approval from the US Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. She represented T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, its controlling shareholder.
In a Q&A that accompanied the recognition, Ms. Levin explained why she thought the decision would ultimately hinge more on the testimony witnesses, including two she put on, T-Mobile’s John Legere and Mike Sievert, the chief executive and chief operating officers, respectively, and less on economic forecasts and models.
“As a trial lawyer, I was always convinced that, despite the predictive nature of antitrust law and its emphasis on economic analysis, the real-world facts should and would matter here,” she said. “And the real-world evidence in this case is unambiguously that New T-Mobile will enhance, not lessen, competition.
“I was singularly focused on presenting those facts, chiefly through my witness examinations of John Legere and Mike Sievert, in a way that allowed them to really bring to the courtroom the spirit and commitment of the company they lead.”
Besides Ms. Levin, other members of WilmerHale’s victorious trial team included Partners David Gringer and Peter Neiman; Counsel Jeremy Adler; Associates Charles Bridge, Karena Neubauer, Alex Stewart, Paul Vanderslice, Nick Werle and Derek Woodman; and Staff Attorney Liza Kirchoffer.