J. Levin

As a Certified Criminal Trial Attorney, Joseph A. Levin concentrates his practice on the defense of persons accused of criminal and quasi-criminal offenses in the State and Municipal Courts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as all Federal Courts. Mr. Levin aggressively defends such persons in jury and bench trials, motions, bail hearings, sentencings, violations of probation and parole, appeals, and all criminal proceedings.  

 

Recently, Joseph A. Levin successfully litigated a motion to dismiss a murder indictment in State v. MJG, resulting in the dismissal of murder charges. In the past year, Mr. Levin also has successfully prevailed in a multitude of motions to suppress, resulting in the suppression of guns, large quantities of drugs, and other contraband, due to violations of his clients' constitutional rights. In 2009, Mr. Levin successfully represented JS, who had been charged with multiple counts of first-degree aggravated assault, second-degree sexual assault and related offenses.  After a two-week jury trial, JS was found “not guilty” of all charges.

 

 

Throughout the years, Mr. Levin successfully represented Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford, Atlantic City Council President William Marsh, and ex-Atlantic City Councilman Eugene Robinson against baseless charges brought by their political enemies. As a result of zealous representation, the unwarranted charges against the Mayor and City Council President were dismissed. Similarly, the potential charges against ex-Councilman Robinson never materialized; he was never formally charged, but instead was vindicated. Due to Mr. Levin’s hardnosed defense, some members of the opposing political faction have been charged with attempting to blackmail ex-Councilman Robinson. Mr. Levin takes pride in the fact that well-respected public officials choose him to provide legal representation in their cases.

 

 

In addition to aggressively defending each and every one of his clients, Mr. Levin appears on television, radio and the print media to provide commentary on such topics as the Atlantic City Serial Killer, the Michael Jackson sexual assault trial, the death penalty, and more. He has appeared with regard to his cases and as a legal commentator on ABC (Philadelphia), CBS (Philadelphia), NBC (Philadelphia), Fox News (Philadelphia), “Geraldo Rivera Live,” “Good Day Philadelphia,” and “Its Your Call with Lynn Doyle.” He also has been interviewed by radio personalities Michael A. Smerconish, Esquire and Harry Hurley. In 2007, Mr. Levin was named one of South Jersey’s “Top 40 under 40” professionals by Atlantic City Weekly.

 

 

Prior to establishing the Law Offices of Joseph A. Levin, LLC, Mr. Levin was a partner in Levant, Martin & Levin, P.C., with offices in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a member of the firm, Mr. Levin represented a Captain in the United States Army, who was accused of sexual assault. Despite the Captain’s full confession, after a two-week jury trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. Mr. Levin also represented a Pleasantville man accused of sexually assaulting his daughter. After a one-week jury trial, the jury acquitted the Pleasantville man of sexual assault and convicted the man of minor, non-sex offenses, which resulted in the man’s immediate release from custody. Mr. Levin also successfully litigated numerous motions, including a motion to suppress a confession in a high profile murder case, resulting in a reduced plea to manslaughter and a seven-year, as opposed to a life, sentence.

 

 

Previously, Mr. Levin worked as a criminal defense associate at Jacobs & Barbone, P.A. While there, Mr. Levin worked with Edwin J. Jacobs, Jr., Esquire in a large federal racketeering trial. After a three-month trial, the jury convicted the client of the relatively minor, non-violent crimes in the indictment and acquitted the client of all of the substantive offenses/ racketeering acts involving murder (five murders), attempted murder, and drug trafficking.

 

 

Moreover, while at Jacobs & Barbone, P.C., Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Levin represented a Bridgeton Police Officer who, while represented by another firm, had been unjustly convicted of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to eleven years in prison. Based upon Mr. Jacobs’s and Mr. Levin’s hard work through the appellate process, during which Mr. Levin wrote all of the legal briefs, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the unjust conviction and remanded the matter for a new trial. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision is published at 177 N.J. 147 (2003). Thereafter, Mr. Levin procured a dismissal of all of the sex offenses. Mr. Levin successfully petitioned the New Jersey Pension Board and the Board reinstated the officer’s pension.

 

 

Additionally, Mr. Levin served as an assistant public defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. As a member of the Major Trial Unit, Mr. Levin tried a multitude of jury and bench trials involving serious felony charges against his clients. For example, in Commonwealth v. KS, Mr. Levin secured an acquittal for KS of attempted murder, aggravated assault, carjacking and possession of a firearm in a shooting at the University of Pennsylvania. In Commonwealth v. TJ, Mr. Levin garnered an acquittal for TJ who had been charged with attempted murder and related offenses arising out of the stabbing of the victim in the heart. In Commonwealth v. EC, he procured an acquittal for EC, who had been charged with gunpoint robbery. These three cases are representative of the innumerable "not guilty" verdicts that Mr. Levin obtained on behalf of his clients at the Defender Association.

 

 

Before that, Mr. Levin clerked for the Supreme Court of California, Criminal Division, Legal Research Staff, where he reviewed appellate briefs and legal opinions involving criminal matters, researched the issues presented, and wrote detailed memoranda recommending a procedural and substantive disposition. He also had the honor of reviewing his memoranda with the Supreme Court Justices.

 

 

Mr. Levin is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. At Hastings, Mr. Levin was a member of the Law Review and an Associate Symposium Editor for the Hastings Law Journal, which presented a symposium entitled “Federalism of Crime: The Role of Federal and State Governments in the Criminal Justice System.” Mr. Levin also co-wrote and published the article “The Temporary Insanity Defense in California.” Furthermore, he was selected as a research assistant in legal ethics and teaching assistant in criminal law and legal research and writing. While at Hastings, he taught community law to juvenile probationers and parolees, providing them with a working knowledge of legal rules, rights and responsibilities.

 

 

Mr. Levin received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/ Philosophy from the University of Arizona, from which he graduated magna cum laude and with honors. His honors thesis examined the philosophies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and their impact on the civil rights movement.

 

 

Mr. Levin is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and all State and Municipal Courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Levin has been Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Criminal Trial Attorney.

 

 

Mr. Levin also is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and New Jersey Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He also is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and is proud to have been selected as a Trustee for the Atlantic County Bar Association. In connection with his law practice, Mr. Levin continues to speak out against the death penalty on television, in the print media, and through lectures. He is a member of New Jerseyians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the New Jersey Anti-death Penalty Coalition, as well as other organizations that advocate the abolition of capital punishment.