Daniel Perlman

Daniel R. Perlman is a criminal defense attorney and founding partner of Perlman & Cohen Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers . He has practiced in the Los Angeles criminal courts since 2005 and, for approximately the last decade, has concentrated his practice on murder and homicide cases, serious violent felonies, and other complex or high-exposure criminal matters.

Mr. Perlman represents people facing the most consequential kinds of criminal accusations – cases carrying the possibility of decades in prison or even life. His experience includes murder and other homicide prosecutions, serious violent crimes, sex offenses, and other major felony matters. He represents clients from the earliest stages of an investigation through pretrial litigation, jury trial, and sentencing.

A substantial part of Mr. Perlman’s practice is devoted to cases in which the government’s version of events must be tested rather than simply accepted. His work regularly involves examining the investigation itself: what law enforcement did, what it failed to do, what witnesses actually said, what assumptions became accepted as fact, and whether the evidence ultimately supports the accusation that was made.

Serious criminal defense is rarely a one-lawyer undertaking. Depending upon the case, Mr. Perlman builds and directs a defense team that may include private investigators, forensic pathologists, toxicologists, accident or shooting reconstruction specialists, psychologists, digital-evidence specialists, and other experts. In particularly complex or demanding matters, that team can also expand to include other veteran criminal defense attorneys, bringing additional experience and another set of eyes to difficult factual, forensic, or legal questions. The case determines the team.

Mr. Perlman has tried criminal cases before juries and obtained acquittals in serious prosecutions. His approach is grounded in preparation and judgment: understanding the evidence in detail, identifying weaknesses in the prosecution’s case, developing evidence the original investigation may have overlooked, litigating issues capable of materially changing the case, and preparing serious matters with trial genuinely available as an option.

Mr. Perlman is based in Los Angeles and regularly travels when a serious case warrants it. His California practice through Perlman & Cohen Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers is distinct from his nationwide federal criminal defense practice, Perlman Defense Federal Criminal Lawyers. Through that practice, he represents clients in federal courts around the country and has also been engaged in international extradition matters.

A criminal prosecution is rarely confined to what happens in a courtroom. An accusation can threaten a client’s liberty, career, family, reputation, immigration status, professional licensing, and financial future. Effective representation therefore requires attention not only to the charges themselves, but also to the broader consequences of the case and the decisions made along the way.

Mr. Perlman and Matthew Cohen first practiced together beginning in 2011, when Cohen joined Daniel Perlman Law as an associate. After several years practicing separately, they began working together again in 2022 as Perlman & Cohen Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers . At Perlman & Cohen Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers, they assemble the lawyers, investigators, experts, and other professionals appropriate to the particular matter. The objective is not to force every case through the same process. It is to determine what the case requires and put the people and resources in place to do that work.

Mr. Perlman is admitted to practice in California, multiple United States District Courts, and before the Supreme Court of the United States.