Litigation Partner, Muhammad U. Faridi, Elected to the American Law Institute

On Friday, October 15, 2021, Patterson Belknap Litigation Partner Muhammad U. Faridi was elected to the American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. Founded in 1923 following a study conducted by a prominent group of American judges, lawyers, and teachers, ALI was formed to first address the complexities and uncertainties in American law. Muhammad is among 24 lawyers, judges, and scholars elected to ALI today.

Muhammad's practice focuses on matters involving disputes relating to breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, commercial real estate, structured finance transactions including RMBS and CMBS, syndicated loan transactions, alleged violations of U.S. sanctions, and international manufacturing supply chain. He has handled a wide variety of litigation matters at various stages-including trials and appeals, and has also handled sensitive internal investigations for his clients.

As a result of his work, he was named a "2018 Rising Star" by the New York Law Journal and has been named to Benchmark Litigation's "40 & Under Hotlist" of practitioners for multiple years, including as recently as 2021. Muhammad was the recipient of the New York State Bar Association's 2014 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, highlighting his recognition by the Young Lawyers Section of the association for having rendered outstanding service to both the community and legal profession. He has also received The Legal Aid Society's Pro Bono Publico Award for multiple years, MFY Legal Services, Inc.'s Partner in Justice Award, and the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project's TD Bank Champion of Justice Award. He was also recognized as the 2017 Law Day Honoree at John Jay College of Criminal Justice "for his outstanding commitment to the legal community."

Muhammad has written extensively on commercial litigation in New York. He is the co-editor of Commercial Division Practice Guide (Bloomberg). He is also a contributor to the American Bar Association Section of Business Law's annual review of business courts in the United States. Further, he is a founding contributor to the Firm's blog, www.NYCommercialDivisionBlog.com, covering developments related to practice and case law in the Commercial Division and commercial cases in New York appellate courts.

To learn more about ALI's new members, please click here.