Laurie Lou Levenson (born December 7, 1956) is a Professor of Law, William M. Rains Fellow, the David W. Burcham Chair in Ethical Advocacy, and Director of the Center for Legal Advocacy at

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. She teaches evidence, criminal law, criminal procedure, ethics,

anti-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

, and

white collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

. She served as Loyola’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1996-1999. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she is the Director of the Loyola Center for Ethical Advocacy. She received the 2003 Professor of the Year awards from both Loyola Law School and the Federal Judicial Center.

Education

Levenson was born on December 7, 1956, and is a native of

. She graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Stanford University in 1977, and a Juris Doctor ( J.D.) from

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

in 1980, where she was the chief article editor of the ''

UCLA Law Review The ''UCLA Law Review'' is a bimonthly law review established in 1953 and published by students of the UCLA School of Law, where it also sponsors an annual symposium. Membership is decided based on performance on a write-on competition. The edi ...

''.

Career

Levenson clerked for Judge

James Hunter III James Hunter III (December 26, 1916 – February 10, 1989) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Education and career Born in Westville, New Jersey, Hunter received a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

. Following that she served as an assistant United States Attorney for the

Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, m ...

, where she rose to the position of assistant division chief. While a federal prosecutor, she tried a wide variety of federal criminal cases, including violent crimes, narcotics offenses, white collar crimes, and immigration and public corruption cases. She served as Chief of the Training Section and Chief of the Criminal Appellate Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In 1988, she received the Attorney General’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance. She also received commendations from the FBI, IRS, U.S. Postal Service, and DEA. She joined the

faculty in 1989. She lectures regularly throughout the country and internationally for the Federal Judicial Center, National Judicial College, international bar associations, bar review courses, community groups and legal societies. She also testifies before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

and the California Legislature regarding SB 490 (Death Penalty). She has served as a volunteer counsel for the " Webster Commission" and as a Special Master for the

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The ...

and United States District Court. She has served as a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Judicial Appointments Committee and Judiciary Committee. She serves on the Board of Directors for Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice. Along with

Erwin Chemerinsky Erwin Chemerinsky (born May 14, 1953) is an American legal scholar known for his studies of United States constitutional law and federal civil procedure. Since 2017, Chemerinsky has been the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. Previously, he a ...

, she has argued that a "meaningful public trial in the 1990s ''requires'' that it be broadcast because few people realistically can attend court proceedings."

Publications and television commentary

Levenson has written books on

California criminal law California criminal law generally follows the law of the United States. However, there are both substantive and procedural differences between how the United States federal government and California prosecute alleged violations of criminal law. Th ...

and is a frequent television commentator on criminal legal issues, first coming to fame as a frequent commentator for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in the O. J. Simpson trial. She has written about the ethics of being a television commentator.

& Laurie Levenson, ''The Ethics of Being a Commentator'', 69 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1303 (1996) She has been a legal commentator for CBS, CNN, ABC, NBC and NPR. She has commented on a wide range of high-publicity cases, including the O. J. Simpson murder trial, the

Rodney King Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...

beating trial, the Menendez murder trials, the

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

molestation case, the

Scott Peterson Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American convicted murderer. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was pregnant at the time, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Mod ...

murder trial, the

Bernard Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ ...

investigation, the

Clinton impeachment Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The House adopted two articles o ...

, the

Robert Blake Robert Blake may refer to: Sportspeople * Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player * Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer * Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player * Rob Blake (born 196 ...

murder trial, the trial of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the prosecution of Anna Nicole Smith’s physicians, UCI Medical Scandal, the Michelle Carter murder trial, and the prosecution of Dr. Conrad Murray.

References

External links

Loyola Law faculty home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levenson, Laurie 1956 births American prosecutors California lawyers O. J. Simpson murder case Stanford University alumni UCLA School of Law alumni Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women