(Reuters) - Joel Levin, who until recently headed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Chicago regional office, has joined Constantine Cannon, the firm announced Thursday.
The former first assistant attorney general for the Northern District of Illinois will work for the 76-attorney firm remotely in Chicago, as of counsel in its whistleblower practice.
“In terms of a really robust whistleblower practice, I think that they are at the top,” said Levin. “I felt given my experience at both the DOJ and at the SEC, and my background handling fraud cases and enforcement, that this would be a really good fit for me.”
Levin said the international presence of Constantine Cannon, which has an affiliated London office, was a draw for him as whistleblower complaints are increasingly coming from overseas.
Levin was regional director of the second-largest SEC regional office from 2018 until this spring. His work at the agency included 2019 charges against Volkswagen AG, its subsidiaries and former CEO for defrauding investors.
Before joining the SEC he was second-in-command in the Northern District of Illinois for four years, where he launched a health care fraud unit.
Levin has spent over 30 years in total as a federal prosecutor across several jurisdictions.
He said one of his career's biggest cases was the 2006 trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan who was convicted of racketeering, bribery and other charges.
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