Don Lewis Esq.

Founded by Don Lewis, Esq, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Lewis Law, LLC (“Lewis Law”) capitalizes on diverse skills and personal and professional networks developed over the course of Don’s legal career. Don honed his diverse skills for practicing law at one of the most demanding law firms in the world, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, as well as the dynamic, challenging, thrill-a-minute, environment at the internationally recognized WeWork Companies Inc. Don’s high-end training, as well as his natural gift for bridging the gap between clients and their need for institutional support on complex matters, provides the perfect combination to advise his clients in manner consistent with the Lewis Law mantra: “We’re All About You.”

Don learned at a very young age the benefit of diversity, which has been invaluable in the development of his massive and carefully curated network. His beloved father, who is from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, introduced Don to cream cheese-and-lox bagels for breakfast and Spumoni Gardens slices for lunch. His radiant and always graceful mother introduced Don to the relaxing beaches and melodic steel drums of her home in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. As Don observed as a boy, the people who know people, and who know a broad range from all walks of life, are always ahead of the pack.

Motivated by his diverse upbringing, Don has cultivated an immense and eclectic network of personal and professional contacts who share his passion for teamwork, accountability and results. Don’s contacts have an impressive range and include, among others, law firm managing partners, business executives, the airport security lady who always makes him laugh, professional sports athletes, rock-and-roll stars, medical professionals, airline pilots, the barber with the best stories, tenured professors, the guy who fixes the elevators, creative marketing geniuses and many more. Lewis Law does not accept that nice guys finish last and there’s never a need to be a bad person, but the days of “I am a rock, I am an island” are spectacularly far behind. You know who finishes last in the 21st century? Folks who have no network. With Lewis Law in your corner, that will never be the case.

Lewis Law is committed to servicing our clients with the utmost speed, care, quality and results. At Lewis Law, we are forever striving to ensure that our clients know and feel that: “We’re All About You.”

Where It All Began

The Lewis Law founder was born in Brooklyn, New York, lived as a very young boy in Laurelton, Queens, and is a product of the JFK Elementary and Great Neck North school system. Upon graduating from Blazer Nation, Don moved on to (dreaded “Sox” and “Pats” territory) Boston, Massachusetts, where he earned his degree from Harvard College in ’95 and Harvard Law School in ’00. Don’s next stop was at the perennial legal powerhouse Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he practiced commercial litigation and absorbed the omnipresent culture of excellence. Don was then appointed General Counsel of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, and also served for a time as its Acting President. He then joined a close friend from his childhood at one of the fastest growing companies in the world, the thrill-a-minute and amazingly fun, WeWork Companies Inc. At WeWork, Don led the then newly formed Enterprise Legal Team, which spearheaded negotiations with major companies and supported breathtaking worldwide expansion. His most recent stop was as Partner and Co-Chair of Diversity and Inclusion at a litigation start-up, where Don fine-tuned his uniquely creative and agile business development skills. A lifelong love affair with sports, which he views as a microcosm for life, has played a key role in the growth of Don’s expansive network and ability to relate to all types of people. Don was a nationally ranked tennis junior who trained a few summers with Andre Agassi at Nick Bolletieri’s camp in Bradenton, Florida, and is a fixture in the NYC ice hockey scene, where he is affectionately known as “The Mayor of Chelsea Piers.”

Awards & Accomplishments

Historic Co-Working Space Deal.  Successfully negotiated a complex and groundbreaking agreement with a world-renowned $35 billion company to secure 400,000 square feet of unique office space.

WeWork Summit Employee Excellence Award.   Awarded by a vote of peers for remarkable contributions to the company’s overwhelming success as leader of the Enterprise Legal negotiations team.  (The award was presented in Universal Studios and included unlimited access to the “Harry Potter.”  This was an ever-so-slight upgrade from “Space Mountain” in 1989.)

Cornell Multi-Billion Tech Campus Negotiation.   Integrally involved, as General Counsel and Acting President, in negotiations with leading officials from (i) the Executive Chamber for NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo and (ii) the Office of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as resident stakeholders, to successfully close the deal for the multi-billion historic Cornell Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island.

Bronx Leadership School Mock Trial Mentorship Program.  Provided weekly mock trial training, along with colleagues, to high-school seniors from the Bronx Leadership School, culminating each term with the students participating in mock trials in federal courthouses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. 

Spectrum Brands, Inc., Chapter 11 “Trial”. Lead senior associate in the representation by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP of debtor Spectrum Brands, Inc. in an issue of first impression regarding the proper interest rate for reinstatement of a $1.4 billion pre-reorganization loan.  The result for our client was widely acclaimed as a resounding success.

Exoneration of Death Row Inmate.   Member of a pro bono litigation team at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP  which supported the Innocence Project in the exoneration of a falsely accused Mississippi African-American male imprisoned for over 12 years on Death Row from a crime he did not commit as proven by DNA evidence and the subsequent confession of another individual.

Solutia Inc. Confirmation Dispute.  Lead senior associate in the successful representation by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP  of our clients, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs Credit Partners LP., Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as a consortium of lenders, in a confirmation hearing dispute concerning a $2 billion loan to Chapter 11 debtor Solutia Inc. and the interpretation of a “material adverse change” contractual provision.  The result for our client was once again widely considered a resounding success.

Ice Hockey in Harlem Fundraising.  Integrally involved with fundraising efforts totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the nonprofit Ice Hockey in Harlem, along with ice hockey mates from Team Skadden, in the ten-year and still running annual Lawyers’ Cup tournament.

Commitment to Justice Legal Team Award Recipient.   Honored by In-Motion, a New York-based organization that provides complimentary legal services to women from underserved communities, along with two Skadden Arps colleagues for pro bono representation of a mother of infant twins in a dispute with the infants’ grandmother.