Adina C. Levine is a Partner in Stein Adler Dabah & Zelkowitz’s Commercial, Employment, and Real Estate Litigation Groups. Adina has decades of experience representing corporate and individual clients in complex business disputes before state and federal courts across the country, including in New York and Delaware, as well as in arbitrations, mediations, and appeals.

Adina’s practice encompasses a broad range of commercial matters, including contract and partnership disputes, intra-family business disputes, real estate and employment litigation, fiduciary duty and shareholder litigation, and claims involving breach of contract, trade secrets, and unfair competition. In the real estate arena, Adina handles breach of lease and contract disputes, ownership and management conflicts, and related commercial matters for landlords, tenants, and investors. She also regularly represents employers, executives, and employees in employment-related litigation, including wrongful termination, partnership breakups, and other business divorces.

Adina brings a pragmatic and client-centered approach to her practice. She understands that every dispute carries both legal and personal dimensions. Adina views litigation as a last resort, focusing first on resolving matters efficiently and creatively. Known for her ability to craft innovative legal arguments, Adina serves as both a trusted advisor and fierce advocate throughout the litigation process.

Before joining the firm, Adina practiced at several prominent litigation boutiques and an Am Law 100 firm, where she gained extensive experience in M&A and securities litigation, including bringing and defending securities claims and representing clients in shareholder and fiduciary duty challenges to corporate mergers and acquisitions.

In addition to her practice, Adina has served as an adjunct professor at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women and at Touro Law School, where she taught courses in Constitutional Law, Women and the Law, and M&A Litigation.

Real Estate Litigation

• Stein Adler obtained emergency injunctive relief on behalf of a real estate developer seeking to protect its interest in the proceeds from the sale of a Brooklyn property after the client alleged that more than $10 million in sale proceeds had been distributed without any payment to the client despite its multimillion-dollar investment in the project. The team successfully secured a Temporary Restraining Order preserving the remaining $1.3 million in proceeds pending litigation and subsequently defeated an attempt by the property’s minority owner to vacate the TRO.
• Represented purchasers of a commercial property in New York State Court concerning a breach of the time-of-the-essence closing notice and discrepancies in the plans and specifications.
• Represented seller of commercial property in dispute concerning breaches of a purchase agreement.
• Represented owner of a residential property in a plenary proceeding to refuse renewal of a rent stabilized tenant’s lease and subsequent eviction.
• Represented purchaser of residential property in New York state action to recover for fraudulent misrepresentations, breach of the offering plans and specifications and other damages resulting from a seller’s tender of a nonconforming residential unit.
• Represented a tenant in a commercial lease dispute involving alleged contract breaches.
• Represented real estate investors and financial institutions in litigation involving ownership, management, and settlement enforcement issues.

Commercial Litigation

• Represented a major hedge fund in enforcing a settlement payment based on anticipatory repudiation claims.
• Arbitrated a contract claim on behalf of a financial advisor before JAMS.
• Represented plaintiffs and defendants in M&A litigation in New York, Delaware, and federal courts, including shareholder and fiduciary duty disputes.
• Successfully defended against shareholder motions to enjoin a merger following expedited discovery and defeated class actions challenging going-private transactions.
• Defended a digital service provider in Section 10(b) securities fraud claims and a private investment firm in class actions under Sections 11 and 12.
• Litigated Lanham Act trademark and copyright disputes, trade-secret misappropriation, and false advertising claims.
• Represented a pharmaceutical company in joint-venture litigation involving the development of a psoriasis treatment.
• Led contentious bankruptcy litigation on behalf of the Committee of Unsecured Creditors for the underwriter of residential mortgage-backed securities.

Employment Litigation

• Stein Adler Secures Complete Summary Judgment Victory in Trade Secret Dispute
  Stein Adler secured summary judgment dismissing all claims against its client, an insurance broakerage, in a commercial dispute involving allegations of trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, and related business claims. The court found no evidence that the client improperly obtained or used any confidential information, and that the record did not support liability under either state or federal law. The decision resulted in a complete dismissal of all claims, bringing a swift end to the case.
• Represented employees in wrongful termination cases in New York State and federal courts.
• Represented employer in action against employee for breach of non-compete and theft of trade secrets.
• Represented employees in partnership and compensation disputes against former partners in New York and Connecticut courts.

Representative matters include work performed at prior firms.