Duncan Levin

Duncan Levin is a nationally recognized expert in criminal law, asset forfeiture, and money laundering. He serves as Managing Partner of Levin & Associates, PLLC, a New York–based firm specializing in white-collar defense and financial crime.

After serving as a prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Levin joined the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. He later served on the senior staff of the Manhattan DA’s Office as Chief of Asset Forfeiture. In that role he oversaw hundreds of financial crime cases, including working on major international forfeitures such as the $1.9 billion HSBC sanctions case and the $350 million Standard Chartered matter, as well as actions involving BNP Paribas and other financial institutions. He helped draft state laws governing forfeiture, restitution, and proceeds tracing, and regularly coordinated with regulators and other prosecutorial offices on enforcement under the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and OFAC sanctions programs.

After government service, Mr. Levin founded Levin & Associates, representing individuals and companies in complex forfeiture, money-laundering, and white-collar matters. His cases span federal and state courts nationwide, including parallel criminal, civil, and regulatory proceedings. He regularly advises clients on OFAC compliance, cross-border asset recovery, and disputes with international financial components.

At Harvard Law School, Mr. Levin teaches Cash, Crime, and the Constitution: The Legal Frontiers of Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering, a seminar exploring the constitutional and statutory foundations of property seizure and financial enforcement. The course examines landmark decisions such as Austin v. United States, United States v. Bajakajian, and Timbs v. Indiana, and analyzes the evolution from traditional in rem seizures to today’s global anti-laundering architecture. He has also served for many years as a member of the teaching faculty for the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop, where he trains students in trial strategy, evidence, and courtroom presentation.

A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Mr. Levin clerked for the Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York before joining the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office under the famed Robert M. Morgenthau. There he handled misdemeanor and felony prosecutions and developed the balanced prosecutorial philosophy that continues to inform his defense practice and teaching.

Mr. Levin lectures on financial crime, asset-forfeiture reform, and constitutional limits on state power. He has appeared frequently in national media as a commentator on white-collar enforcement and compliance. His scholarship and teaching emphasize the practical and constitutional dimensions of economic crime.