Justin C. Danilewitz

Justin C. Danilewitz
Primary Office
Overview

Justin C. Danilewitz draws upon his trial and investigative experience as a former federal prosecutor to zealously defend entities and individuals facing criminal and civil enforcement actions, conduct internal investigations, and respond to whistleblower complaints and false claims (qui tam) suits. Justin is ranked in Chambers USA (2021 through 2023), in the category of "America's Leading Lawyers in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations." Reviews published with the ranking have described Justin as "wicked smart and extremely thoughtful," "excellent in his field," and "a gifted attorney," and as having "a truly superb legal mind" with an "ability to distill the facts and the pertinent case law to formulate nuanced and compelling arguments" that "is quite simply world-class."

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Justin was further described in Chambers USA as having a "positive, persistent and tenacious approach with a 'never give up' attitude."

Indeed, after multiple meetings with the government failed to dissuade prosecutors from charging an energy company employee in a 59-count criminal complaint, Justin obtained the dismissal of all charges in that complaint – before trial, and after a lengthy preliminary hearing – after his cross-examination of the lead investigator revealed critical failures in the prosecution's proof.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed, after a demonstration of the defense by Justin and his colleagues, to dismiss with prejudice an indictment against a company client after the U.S. Attorney's Office had improvidently indicted the client on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, and theft of government funds. On the heels of that dismissal, Justin and his colleagues took on the representation of individually charged defendants in the same case, facilitating the eventual dismissal of charges against dozens of such individuals, and the public collapse of the government's years-long prosecution.

In 2019, Justin and his colleagues persuaded the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York, and the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, not to proceed with charges against a client in an insider trading investigation, after the SEC had expressed its intention to do so in a "Wells Notice" issued to the client.

Justin was selected to serve as counsel to the court-appointed independent monitor of the pharmaceutical manufacturer Mallinckrodt, in a five-year monitorship arising out of Mallinckrodt's bankruptcy proceeding stemming from national opioid litigation.

An experienced appellate advocate and accomplished legal writer, Justin has written appellate briefs in both criminal and civil matters, and he has represented public interest organizations as amicus counsel of record before the U.S. Supreme Court. Justin successfully led the briefing and oral argument in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court relating to a matter of international interest – the Pennsylvania Attorney General's grand jury investigation into the Catholic Church – resulting in two landmark precedential opinions in favor of the clients, protecting the constitutional right to reputation, and changing the nature of grand jury practice in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers recognized Justin for his successful efforts in that matter with the prestigious Alan Jay Josel Award for Advocacy.

Justin is engaged in several local and national activities.  He is the Chair of the Federal Criminal Law Committee in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  He is also the co-host, along with Geonard Butler, of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section Podcast, the JustPod, where he interviews leading figures in the criminal law community from around the country on current criminal justice issues. 

In 2022, upon the recommendation of the Criminal Justice Act Selection Committee for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Justin was appointed by the Board of Judges to the CJA Felony Panel, making him eligible for appointment by the Court to represent indigent federal criminal defendants. 

Justin was named a "Future Star" in Pennsylvania by Benchmark Litigation (2022, 2023), and to The Legal Intelligencer's Power Players list (2019).