Linklaters has added Christopher Boehning and Daniel Levi, formerly of Paul Weiss, to lead its disputes practice in New York. Boehning will assume the chairmanship of the firm’s global sports and strategic litigation practices in the United States. Levi joins as a partner in the litigation, arbitration, and investigations practice, which at Linklaters has 400 lawyers.
Boehning spent more than 30 years at Paul Weiss Levi, and more than 25. At his former firm, Boehning co-led the sports, international, and insurance practices and chaired international arbitration. His clients included FIFA, for whom he served as senior counsel on several matters, including securing $201 million in compensation from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Boehning litigates complex commercial disputes, insurance, regulatory enforcement, and internal investigations, with clients in the financial, pharmaceutical, chemical, and energy sectors. Levi handles product liability, insurance litigation, M&A disputes, and international arbitration, representing clients in state and federal courts at all stages, as well as civil and criminal regulatory investigations and whistleblower cases.
The addition brings the number of partners in Linklaters’ US practice to 55, a 77% increase since fiscal year 2022. The firm said its US revenue has more than doubled since 2021, and profit has quadrupled over the same period.
The appointment follows a series of moves in New York: In 2024, Linklaters brought on board Americas Chairman George Casey, along with a six-partner mergers and acquisitions team from the now-defunct Shearman & Sterling. That same year, he added a Washington arbitration team from Paul Hastings, led by Joseph Profaizer, and a group of four finance partners from A&O Shearman. Last year, he added a four-partner litigation team from the boutique firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, led by Adeel Mangi.
Casey, who heads the firm’s US operation, placed the hiring within the logic of client demand: “They strengthen our offering at a time when clients are looking for top-tier capabilities across all practices, and consolidate the momentum we have generated.”
The move coincides with a widespread expansion of sports practices among top-tier firms, fueled by increased private equity investment in the sector. This week, Paul Hastings launched a global sports practice led by Mark Zerdin, formerly of Slaughter and May. In April, Simpson Thacher brought on three sports partners, including Michael Kuh, from Hogan Lovells, and Eric Geffner, from Sidley Austin. Paul Weiss, the home firm of Boehning and Levi, formalized its own sports practice late last year.
