Lina Bensman litigates “bet-the-company” commercial disputes and class actions, including breach of contract, fraud, and consumer claims.

Her practice focuses on complex civil litigation, including coordination of litigation strategy across state and international borders as well as management of simultaneous high-stakes litigations, arbitrations, and criminal investigations. She has led trial teams to success in federal and state court, both in jury and bench trials. She has successfully represented clients facing novel and challenging legal issues, and always ensures that the legal strategy serves the client’s business strategy. 

Within Cleary, Lina chairs the Women Lawyers Advisory Committee and is the principal author of Cleary’s Guide to Good Management.

Lina joined the firm in 2011.

Notable Experiences

  • Sysco Corporation in an LCIA arbitration and related federal court litigations against affiliates of Burford Capital Ltd., a large litigation funder, in connection with a dispute as to the extent of Burford’s contractual rights with respect to settlement of Sysco’s funded claims

  • National Amusements (NAI), Shari Redstone, and Sumner Redstone in a significant litigation victory against CBS Corporation and certain members of its board of directors concerning CBS’s attempt to dilute NAI’s voting control of CBS, ending in favorable resolution rescinding dilutive stock dividend and dismissal of all claims, and separately in settling class action litigation in Delaware Chancery Court concerning the 2019 merger of CBS and Viacom

  • Assured Guaranty in a significant trial victory by successfully defeating claims brought by Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) in the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court and prevailing on Assured’s counterclaim for breach of contract

  • Robert Bosch GmbH and Robert Bosch LLC in multidistrict litigation and other proceedings in the United States arising from allegations that Volkswagen, and other car manufacturers used equipment supplied by Bosch to manipulate the results of diesel vehicle emissions tests

  • LATAM Airlines in securing the dismissal of a putative class action brought by TM Solutions alleging violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and related claims in connection with ticket cancellations due to airline policy

  • LATAM Airlines Group S.A. and its affiliates in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and the United States in litigation over a $2.45 billion proposed DIP facility as part of the voluntary reorganization and restructuring of their debt under Chapter 11 protection in the United States

  • Petrobras in securities fraud litigation arising out of “Operation Car Wash,” one of the largest corruption scandals in the history of Latin America

  • ESL Investments in its $5.2 billion acquisition of Sears Holdings and related litigation

  • Alpha Natural Resources and certain of its directors and officers in successful motions to dismiss a derivative action and a federal securities law class action in multiple jurisdictions

  • Pro bono plaintiff, together with the Southern Poverty Law Center, in a case involving same-sex parental rights (kidnapping) and civil RICO claims in Vermont federal court; defendants include Liberty University and its affiliates

  • Pro bono plaintiffs, together with the Southern Poverty Law Center, in securing a unanimous jury verdict in Ferguson v. JONAH, a first-of-its-kind lawsuit challenging the provision of conversion therapy as fraudulent and unconscionable

  • Multinational clients on litigation risk mitigation strategies, including in connection with sanctions-related issues

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