Janet I. Levine

Discretion is the name of the game for Levine as she skillfully and swiftly resolves high-stakes and highly sensitive matters.

As a white collar criminal defense attorney, her clients include a healthcare professional accused of paying kickbacks and evading taxes, a Pacific Rim importer being investigated by U.S. Customs, a foreign national targeted for alleged international money laundering and bribery and executives under multi-jurisdictional investigations.

Though many of Levine’s matters and clients are confidential, she said she’s seeing continuing emphasis on fraud in the healthcare industry and public sector.

Healthcare, particularly pharmaceuticals, is one of the biggest drivers of the economy, and significant federal funds are invested, so the cases are often multimillion dollar prosecutions, Levine said. The laws aren’t quite as clear in the industry, which makes it a unique challenge, she said.

“Often in fraud cases, somebody’s selling something that doesn’t exist,” Levine said. “In healthcare cases, it’s a question of, is it correctly coded? Were there improper relationships between pharmacies and doctors? Is there an improper practice of medicine?”

Public fraud cases tend to be headline-grabbers because of the players they involve, such as city council members, and because they’re often around public expenditures or campaign donations, according to Levine.

“That’s really the stuff that, hypothetically speaking, I couldn’t talk about because just to mention someone’s involvement can ruin a reputation and destroy a career,” she said. “The challenge there is to make sure a client doesn’t end up in the middle of it.”

Last year, Levine went from chairing Crowell & Moring LLP’s trial practice to being a partner at Kendall Brill & Kelly, a firm about 30 times smaller. Levine, who had previously worked at a boutique, said the move felt like a homecoming, and she’s enjoying the freedom and collaboration afforded at a small firm.

In addition to her practice, Levine is also active in the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section policy council that weighs cutting edge legal issues. It’s a chance to engage with aspects of criminal justice outside the day to day, she said.

“Things like reentry and rehabilitation aren’t generally what we’re thinking about when defending cases,” she said. “But they’re vitally important.”

— Erin Lee