Muhammad Faridi Named Attorney of the Year Finalist by The American Lawyer

Linklaters is delighted to announce that Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations Partner Muhammad Faridi has been recognized as an Attorney of the Year finalist by The American Lawyer, honoring his remarkable impact on the U.S. legal system over the past year.
 
As President of the New York City Bar Association — one of the country’s most powerful and prestigious bar associations — Muhammad made history in 2024 as both the youngest person and the first Muslim -American to hold this role. Muhammad has led the City Bar through unprecedented challenges over the past year, including taking decisive action to uphold the rule of law and defend judicial independence nationwide. Under his leadership, the City Bar published a major report advocating for ethics reform at the U.S. Supreme Court. Muhammad also drove significant progress in state court reform, championing efforts to remove the cap on New York State Supreme Court justices to enhance court efficiency. Additionally, he established a major task force on artificial intelligence and digital technologies that has set a national standard for how the legal profession addresses the emerging challenges and opportunities presented by these rapidly evolving technologies.

In the courtroom, Muhammad has led on landmark cases over the past year. He and Baher Azmy of the Center for Constitutional Rights co-chaired a significant pro bono case where their team secured a landmark verdict finding contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc. liable for its role in the torture of Iraqi men at Abu Ghraib prison, ordering $42 million in damages in November 2024. This case not only delivered rare accountability for post-9/11 abuses, but also set a significant legal precedent for holding private military contractors responsible for human rights violations. The team also included Bonita Robinson, now a senior associate at Linklaters, whose incisive examinations of critical witnesses were instrumental to the verdict; Katherine Gallagher of the Center for Constitutional Rights; Michael Buchanan (co-listed with Muhammad as a finalist for the award), Andrew Haddad, Scott Kim, and Alex Mahler-Haug, of Patterson Belknap; former Patterson Belknap associates Michael Fisher and Thomas Kicak; Shereef Hadi Akeel of Akeel & Valentine PLC; Mohammed Alomari of Azimuth Legal Services PLLC; and Charles B. Molster III of the Law Offices of Charles B. Molster III PLLC. The team was also assisted by paralegals Joyce Addae and Sean O’Shea, and by project assistant Kaihan Rahimi. 

More recently, Muhammad and Linklaters Partner Diana Conner led a pro bono team representing Muslims on Long Island (MOLI) in a successful federal lawsuit against the Town of Oyster Bay, challenging discriminatory practices that hindered MOLI’s efforts to expand a mosque in Bethpage, New York. The team garnered the support of the U.S. Department of Justice and argued that the town’s newly enacted parking ordinance violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, as well as constitutional and state protections for equal treatment and religious exercise. The team secured a highly favorable settlement for MOLI, with the Town agreeing to approve MOLI’s application to expand their mosque as is, update its Town Code to address and resolve claims regarding the legality of the parking ordinance, and make a payment to MOLI totaling $3.95 million, inclusive of attorneys’ fees and costs. The team also included Linklaters Counsel Julia Long, Senior Associate Peter Vogel, and Associate Kailyn LaPorte.
 
Muhammad joined Linklaters in January 2025 as part of the addition of a preeminent 11-lawyer trial team from a leading New York litigation firm. His arrival marked a new milestone as Linklaters continues to grow its U.S. practice into a preeminent disputes and transactional powerhouse, anchored by one of the world’s strongest global legal platforms. Our nationally recognized commercial litigation and trial practice, market-leading white collar defense group, and top-tier international arbitration team operate within a 400-strong litigation, arbitration, and investigations bench across the globe.