Janet Levine

Levine is chair of Crowell & Moring's trial practice group and is one of the nation's top white collar attorneys, a practice with few prominent women, and she has led headline grabbing matters from espionage to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases.

She defended one of the largest suppliers and distributors of food products to the U.S. government in parallel civil and criminal investigations, and a sealed qui tam action, in the Central District of California. The U.S. attorney's office accused the company of submitting thousands of false claims and obstructing the government's investigation.

The stakes were high and the magnitude of potential penalties and collateral consequence made this a "bet the company" matter. Besides the threat to the company, the individuals faced personal financial liability and imprisonment.

Levine negotiated a deferred prosecution agreement for the company and a complete pass on prosecution for all current employees, including the owner.

Levine is one of the few lawyers to try a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case, U.S. v. Aguilar. After a five-week trial in the Central District, Levine obtained a dismissal with prejudice of all charges against her client based on prosecutorial misconduct.

Levine is a past chair of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section and remains on the Criminal Justice Section Council, the Section's policy-making and advisory board. She is a past co-chair of the American Bar Association's White Collar Crime Committee and a past-chair of the American Bar Association's West Coast Regional Subcommittee on White Collar Crime. Levine also maintains a leadership role in the International Bar Association's Business Crime Committee.

- Thor Biberman