Daniel B. Levin is a trial and litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Mr. Levin focuses his practice on complex litigation, white collar defense and investigations. A seasoned litigator and former deputy chief of criminal appeals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, clients rely on Mr. Levin to find creative solutions to their thorniest issues involving high profile government investigations, criminal and environmental litigation and complex, multidistrict litigation with millions if not billions at stake.
Mr. Levin leverages his experience to help companies and law firms navigate the complexities of criminal and civil investigations and litigation brought by various branches of government, including the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Offices nationwide. Ranked by Chambers USA as one of the nation’s leading attorneys, Mr. Levin defends companies accused of alleged violations of the False Claims Act, environmental and government contract violations and criminal conduct such as fraud.
Mr. Levin defends companies facing complex, multidistrict litigation, environmental litigation, mass torts and class actions across a broad range of industries from technology to energy.
Additionally, Mr. Levin maintains an active internal investigations practice, which encompasses advising clients who are subject of investigations, as well as leading internal investigations on behalf of companies and boards.
During Mr. Levin’s tenure in government, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, where he tried cases involving tax fraud, treasury check fraud and firearm importation and most recently was deputy chief of criminal appeals.
Mr. Levin taught advanced appellate advocacy at USC Gould School of Law and is co-chair of the Southern California Regional Subcommittee of the ABA White Collar Crime Committee. He is a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference; a member of the Yale Law School Fund board of directors and a member of the editorial board for the American Bar Association’s State Antitrust Practice and Statutes treatise (5th edition). He also serves on the board of trustees of the John Thomas Dye School in Los Angeles and formerly was a board member of the Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles.
Mr. Levin clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Judge William A. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit. He is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he was editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal. He received both his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford University.
Experience
Key Representations
White Collar and Investigations
- Argued in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of an anonymous tax law firm in a closely watched case involving a grand jury subpoena issued to the law firm in connection with a criminal investigation into a client.
- Clyde & Co. in extracting the UK law firm from a $330 million 1MDB government forfeiture case involving an arbitral award, which the U.S. Department of Justice alleged were connected to a fraudulent joint venture between 1MDB and PetroSaudi.
- Plains All American Pipeline in a four month criminal trial arising from a 46-count indictment following the Refugio Beach oil release. In 2021, Mr. Levin defeated hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal restitution claims lodged against Plains when the trial court awarded claimants a total of $150,000 out of the nearly $700 million.
- Bechtel alongside two subcontractors in criminal and civil False Claims Act litigation involving claims of false billings in connection with the clean-up of a nuclear waste project. Following a settlement in 2020, Mr. Levin currently advises Bechtel in navigating an agreed upon reviewership that is expected to last three years.
Class Actions
- Plains All American Pipeline in multiple civil lawsuits arising from the release of crude oil from a pipeline near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County in May 2015, including two class action lawsuits in the Central District of California.
- Intel Corporation, in successfully settling on the eve of trial a consumer class action involving claims of unfair business practices with respect to performance of Pentium 4 processors.
- Philip Morris USA in a consumer class action involving claims of unfair business practices, which resulted in a defense judgment after a three-month trial. Successfully defended the verdict on appeal, winning an affirmance after oral argument in the California Court of Appeal and defeating the plaintiffs’ petition for review to the California Supreme Court.
- Facebook in appeals to the Ninth Circuit that challenged the settlement of a consumer class action and the dismissal of a second purported class action alleging that Facebook violated state privacy laws.
Mass Tort & Commercial Litigation
- Juul in multidistrict litigation involving over a thousand suits, including consumer class actions, personal injury suits and suits by public entities that allege unfair competition, product defect, public nuisance and claims alleging injuries ranging from addiction to death.
- Snap in multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of California involving claims of product defect and alleged emotional and physical injuries from the use of social media.
- Kyocera Corporation in state and federal court in Michigan relating to long-term supply agreements for polysilicon used for solar panel manufacturing. Won on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
- An investor in an Internet start-up, as lead counsel, in an arbitration regarding control of the company, which settled on the eve of trial. The founder of a real estate investment firm in litigation involving alleged fraud by investors in the business.
Crisis Response
- MGM Resorts International in civil litigation arising from the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
- Occidental Chemical Corporation in federal and state court litigation arising out of the Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana.
- Transocean, a drilling company, in litigation arising from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After a multi-month trial, the court delivered a defense verdict finding that under the drilling contract, BP bore indemnity obligations for the millions of barrels of oil discharged from the Macondo well. Successfully argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from the dismissals of private environmental claims and state-law claims.
Publications
Co-author, “Attorney-Client Privilege Lessons from In re Grand Jury,” ACC Docket, December 7, 2023
Quoted, “Ex-Allianz Manager’s Legal Fight Tests DOJ White-Collar Strategy,” Bloomberg Law, Feb. 2, 2023
Education
-
Yale Law School (J.D., 2002); editor in chief, Yale Law Journal
-
Stanford University (M.A., 1999)
-
Stanford University (B.A., with honors, 1998)
Clerkships
- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court, 2004-2005
- Judge William A. Fletcher, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2002-2003
Bar Admissions
- California
- New York
Experience
Key Representations
White Collar and Investigations
- Argued in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of an anonymous tax law firm in a closely watched case involving a grand jury subpoena issued to the law firm in connection with a criminal investigation into a client.
- Clyde & Co. in extracting the UK law firm from a $330 million 1MDB government forfeiture case involving an arbitral award, which the U.S. Department of Justice alleged were connected to a fraudulent joint venture between 1MDB and PetroSaudi.
- Plains All American Pipeline in a four month criminal trial arising from a 46-count indictment following the Refugio Beach oil release. In 2021, Mr. Levin defeated hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal restitution claims lodged against Plains when the trial court awarded claimants a total of $150,000 out of the nearly $700 million.
- Bechtel alongside two subcontractors in criminal and civil False Claims Act litigation involving claims of false billings in connection with the clean-up of a nuclear waste project. Following a settlement in 2020, Mr. Levin currently advises Bechtel in navigating an agreed upon reviewership that is expected to last three years.
Class Actions
- Plains All American Pipeline in multiple civil lawsuits arising from the release of crude oil from a pipeline near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County in May 2015, including two class action lawsuits in the Central District of California.
- Intel Corporation, in successfully settling on the eve of trial a consumer class action involving claims of unfair business practices with respect to performance of Pentium 4 processors.
- Philip Morris USA in a consumer class action involving claims of unfair business practices, which resulted in a defense judgment after a three-month trial. Successfully defended the verdict on appeal, winning an affirmance after oral argument in the California Court of Appeal and defeating the plaintiffs’ petition for review to the California Supreme Court.
- Facebook in appeals to the Ninth Circuit that challenged the settlement of a consumer class action and the dismissal of a second purported class action alleging that Facebook violated state privacy laws.
Mass Tort & Commercial Litigation
- Juul in multidistrict litigation involving over a thousand suits, including consumer class actions, personal injury suits and suits by public entities that allege unfair competition, product defect, public nuisance and claims alleging injuries ranging from addiction to death.
- Snap in multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of California involving claims of product defect and alleged emotional and physical injuries from the use of social media.
- Kyocera Corporation in state and federal court in Michigan relating to long-term supply agreements for polysilicon used for solar panel manufacturing. Won on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
- An investor in an Internet start-up, as lead counsel, in an arbitration regarding control of the company, which settled on the eve of trial. The founder of a real estate investment firm in litigation involving alleged fraud by investors in the business.
Crisis Response
- MGM Resorts International in civil litigation arising from the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
- Occidental Chemical Corporation in federal and state court litigation arising out of the Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana.
- Transocean, a drilling company, in litigation arising from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After a multi-month trial, the court delivered a defense verdict finding that under the drilling contract, BP bore indemnity obligations for the millions of barrels of oil discharged from the Macondo well. Successfully argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from the dismissals of private environmental claims and state-law claims.
News
Publications
Co-author, “Attorney-Client Privilege Lessons from In re Grand Jury,” ACC Docket, December 7, 2023
Quoted, “Ex-Allianz Manager’s Legal Fight Tests DOJ White-Collar Strategy,” Bloomberg Law, Feb. 2, 2023
Industries
Education
-
Yale Law School (J.D., 2002); editor in chief, Yale Law Journal
-
Stanford University (M.A., 1999)
-
Stanford University (B.A., with honors, 1998)
Clerkships
- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court, 2004-2005
- Judge William A. Fletcher, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2002-2003
Bar Admissions
- California
- New York