Mel Levine is a partner in the Century City and Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He served as a member of the United States Congress from 1983 until 1993 and as a member of the California Assembly from 1977 to 1982. He is a member of the California bar and the District of Columbia bar.
His legal practice includes providing counsel to U.S. and foreign companies whose businesses are affected by federal, state, local or foreign governments. In counseling clients at the federal level, Mr. Levine's practice includes assisting clients in all aspects of legislative advocacy before the United States Congress, including the development and implementation of strategy for enacting, modifying, or defeating federal legislation, preparing clients to testify before Congressional committees, and the relationship between legislative and executive branch advocacy. His clients have included companies involved in a range of industries, including high technology, energy, entertainment, health care, defense, manufacturing, construction and telecommunications.
Mr. Levine was recently named one of the "100 Most Influential" lawyers in California. He recently served as U.S. Chair of the U.S.-Israel-Palestinian "Anti-Incitement" committee established by the Wye Plantation peace agreement, as a Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, and as a U.S. government appointee to the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Advisory Commission. Mr. Levine is a former President of the American Friends of the (Yitzhak) Rabin Center in Israel, a member of the Board of the Los Angeles Police Foundation, and a Director of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Mr. Levine's Congressional committee assignments included the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittees on International Economic Policy and Trade, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia; the Committee on the Judiciary and its subcommittee on Intellectual Property; and the Committee on the Interior and Insular Affairs. Mr. Levine was especially engaged in U.S. foreign policy involving international trade and Middle East policy. He served as Chair of the House Task Force on Exports. He also served as co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and chair of the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Latin America. Mr. Levine, founded and co-chaired Rebuild America, an educational foundation to improve American competitiveness by increasing support for high-technology industries, improving education and rebuilding infrastructure. Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Levine served, at the request of Vice President Gore, as co-President of Builders for Peace, the private sector effort to assist the Middle East peace process.
Mr. Levine received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1969, a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University in 1966, and a bachelor's degree cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964.
Mr. Levine is married to journalist Connie Bruck. They have four children, Adam Levine, Jake Levine, Cara Levine and Ari Schlossberg.