Managing Partner @LevinPLLC, Lecturer on Law @harvard_law/@ColumbiaLaw. Former prosecutor @theJusticeDept @EDNYnews; Chief @ManhattanDA; @YaleLawSchool & @Yale

New York City
Joined August 2010
Harvard Law Today interviewed me about a question I’ve been thinking about: Could a lawyer plead the Fifth when a judge asks about an AI-generated filing? Requiring lawyers to certify that they verified their citations is one thing. Compelling them to explain suspected intentional deception—when their answers could help establish criminal contempt or obstruction—is another. An ex ante certification is not consent to an ex post confession. Courts should hold lawyers accountable for what they file. But when the inquiry shifts from correcting a brief to investigating the lawyer’s own potentially criminal conduct, constitutional protections matter. It’s a fascinating tension that connects my criminal defense practice with my teaching at Harvard and Columbia. Always a pleasure to speak with Harvard Law Today, and thank you to Rachel Reed for the thoughtful interview. hls.harvard.edu/today/when-a…
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I’ll be joining Shannan Ferry on NY1 at 11 a.m. today to discuss the new charges against Nicolás Maduro, the ICE shooting in Marble Hill, and what comes next in Luigi Mangione’s New York state case. Lots to cover. Hope you’ll tune in!
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New York should return stolen art efficiently when ownership is clear. But in a new ruling over an Egon Schiele at Chicago’s Art Institute, the First Department said a summary process cannot resolve sharply disputed title. My new Law360 piece explores why that due-process line matters. law360.com/amp/articles/2531…
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.@BusinessInsider: "It's a very opaque process," according to Duncan Levin, a white-collar defense attorney who teaches a course on forfeiture at Harvard Law School. "It's completely at the discretion, by law, of the attorney general." businessinsider.com/sam-bank…
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DOJ’s most important backstop against political prosecutions isn’t a court—it’s prosecutors willing to say no. If they can be fired and replaced, that safeguard disappears. My new @MSNOW piece on Comey, Todd Blanche and what happens when the backstop fails: ms.now/opinion/trump-blanche…
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Very grateful to be recognized by Best Lawyers for Criminal Defense: General Practice in its 2027 edition. It is, admittedly, still 2026—but I’ll use the remaining months to try to earn it!
Levin & Associates, PLLC is pleased to announce that Duncan Levin has been recognized in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Criminal Defense. This peer-reviewed recognition reflects Duncan’s dedication to his clients and excellence in criminal defense.
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Levin & Associates, PLLC is proud to announce that Duncan Levin has been recognized by Doyle’s Guide in its 2026 Leading Criminal Defense Lawyer Rankings for New York City. We are pleased to see Duncan’s work recognized among New York’s leading criminal defense lawyers.
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Todd Blanche went from Trump’s lawyer to running DOJ. Since then: prosecutions tossed as retaliatory, prosecutors quit over Eric Adams, Jan. 6 convictions erased, Epstein victims exposed. The particulars speak for themselves. My latest for @MSNOWNews: yahoo.com/news/politics/arti…
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Todd Blanche already runs the Justice Department. The Senate’s vote is about something more basic: whether it will approve a DOJ that protects the president, targets his enemies, and turns political grievances into federal investigations. ms.now/opinion/todd-blanche-…
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Jim Jordan’s criminal referral of Jack Smith is not a serious application of false-statement law. It is an effort to fabricate a felony from truthful testimony by rewriting the question after the fact. Here is a link to my piece for @MSNOWNews: ms.now/opinion/jim-jordan-ja…
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My Hollywood moment today: I’m pleased to be speaking with the Beverly Hills Bar Association about AI, deepfakes, and the growing challenges around visual and audio evidence in criminal cases. The program is free for BHBA members, and anyone interested can register at the link below.
I’m speaking with the Beverly Hills Bar Association on June 11 about challenging visual evidence in modern prosecutions — deepfakes, AI-generated media, synthetic voice recordings, authentication, chain of custody, and what happens when “seeing” is no longer believing.
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I’m speaking with the Beverly Hills Bar Association on June 11 about challenging visual evidence in modern prosecutions — deepfakes, AI-generated media, synthetic voice recordings, authentication, chain of custody, and what happens when “seeing” is no longer believing.
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If you Google “who invented lamination,” you may find a surprising answer: my grandfather, Morris Blum, a Brooklyn dentist. This story is not true. I wrote about family lore, Wikipedia, and how a small family embellishment escaped into the internet: bostonglobe.com/2026/05/31/o…
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DOJ’s new corporate enforcement policy is being treated as a technical white-collar update. It is much more than that. DOJ is telling companies how quickly to confess, how deeply to investigate themselves, what facts to produce, how to preserve evidence, how to discipline employees, how to remediate, and how to earn leniency. That is not merely prosecution after the fact. It is a system of real-time corporate governance operating through the threat of indictment. My new piece in The Regulatory Review, published by Penn’s Program on Regulation: theregreview.org/2026/06/02/…
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I joined @ChrisJansing on @MSNOW_Reports today to talk about Bondi, Epstein, and the court blocking Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund. Different stories, same concern: the justice system cannot look like one set of rules for friends and another for everyone else. Fairness, process, and public trust are not procedural niceties. They are what give the system its legitimacy. Watch the segment: archive.org/details/MSNOW_20…
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Every week, another story makes me think: this is not how federal prosecution is supposed to work. DOJ is reportedly probing funding behind E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against Trump. Based on what’s public: what is the crime? I wrote about it here: ms.now/opinion/reid-hoffman-…
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So very honored that Columbia Law School’s Blue Sky Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets published my piece, “In Criminal Justice, Companies Get a Roadmap, While People Get a Maze,” on how our criminal justice system gives corporations a guided path to resolution while leaving individuals to navigate uncertainty, punishment, and procedural confusion largely on their own. Here’s the link: clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/…
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Duncan Levin will appear at the top of the noon hour on @ChrisJansing Reports on @MSNOWNews to discuss today’s testimony by Pam Bondi on the release of the Epstein files, the Maureen Comey case against DOJ, and more. Please join!
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What happens when companies get a clearer path through the criminal justice system than people do? That’s the question at the center of my latest piece for Columbia Law School’s Blue Sky Blog. Grateful to contribute as I prepare to teach at Columbia this fall (while continuing at Harvard Law.) clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/…
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