Janet I. Levine

A fork in the road after graduating college almost led Levine down a different career path.

Clerking for the late Judge Arther L. Alarcon, formerly of the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, from 1980-1982, Levine said she was encouraged by the former prosecutor to become one herself.

But the DA’s office was on a hiring freeze when it came time to leave the clerkship. The federal public defender’s office for the Central District of California, however, had one spot open. Levine had completed an externship there and the job was hers.

“It was a matter of circumstance,” Levine said. “I could have started as a prosecutor if they’d been hiring across the street.”

She spent just under three years as a public defender before going into private practice.

Today, the partner at Kendall Brill Kelly LLP is nationally recognized as a skilled white collar trial and appellate attorney. Her clients include high-profile politicians, judges and executives, and her cases often involve public corruption matters and health care and tax fraud.

Levine is currently representing former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander in a sweeping corruption probe of City Hall.

In July, she negotiated a plea deal with federal prosecutors to drop six of the seven counts in which he was indicted. At his upcoming sentencing hearing, she said she plans to ask for probation.

One of the reasons she says she’s been able to do the job for more than three decades is that she knows when to hold her cards close and when to strike a deal.

“Trial is usually the option when there is no better option,” she said. “Because you can never be sure you’re going to win.”

“It has to be clear that the benefits of being able to win are not outweighed by the risks that you’re going to lose,” she continued. “It’s rare to go to trial, but you never know how you’re going to get there when you start.”

Levine has won many awards for her work and serves as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

She said she’s glad circumstance had it that the job she took out of college wasn’t as a prosecutor.

“I think my personality really fits well as a defense lawyer,” she said. “I’m naturally protective of those around me. And I can’t really say I’m fearless, but people think I am.”

— Tyler Pialet