Ranked in 1 Practice Areas

About

Provided by Robert Dugdale

USA

Practice Areas

Partner, White Collar Defense & Government Investigations

Career

With extensive knowledge of the federal system, Robert E. Dugdale is widely recognized as one of the region’s best trial lawyers. He has been the lead attorney or associate counsel on more than 25 trials and has successfully argued in excess of 20 cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Named one of California’s Top 100 Lawyers by the state’s leading legal publication, The Daily Journal, Mr. Dugdale has successfully represented numerous celebrity clients and business leaders in criminal matters and investigations leading to no charges and no publicity about those investigations. As a former federal prosecutor who specializes in criminal and civil government investigations and litigation, internal investigations, and civil fraud investigations, Mr. Dugdale has successfully represented individuals facing criminal investigations for mail and wire fraud, bribery, racketeering offenses, civil rights violations, money laundering, and currency smuggling, as well as corporate clients and individuals facing False Claims Act lawsuits and qui tam matters, investigations related to government contracts and grants, subpoenas and civil investigative demands, whistleblower claims, and parallel criminal and civil investigations.

Mr. Dugdale’s extensive experience in the public sector has also made him a lawyer who public entities frequently seek assistance from as outside counsel to help address their legal problems, and, in this vein, Mr. Dugdale has been retained by cities, counties, state agencies, and even countries to defend and consult on civil rights cases, to oversee compliance with consent decrees, to provide advice regarding conflicts with state and federal law, and to assist in repatriating money looted by kleptocrats.

A diligent and determined advocate for his clients, Mr. Dugdale has also represented businesses and individuals in complex civil litigation involving disputes alleging contractual breaches, financial wrongdoing, civil RICO allegations, breaches of fiduciary duties, the misappropriation of trade secrets, computer crimes, and breaches of privacy.

Before joining Kendall Brill & Kelly, Mr. Dugdale served more than 19 years as a trial attorney and supervisor of some of the most significant cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. He was the Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for Trials, Integrity, and Professionalism and, prior to that, he was the Chief of the Criminal Division, a position in which he oversaw the work of approximately 200 federal prosecutors in the second largest U.S. Attorney’s Office in the nation.

Mr. Dugdale also received numerous accolades as a federal prosecutor, including being named “California Lawyer of the Year” by California Lawyer magazine and receiving the Attorney General’s Award, the highest honor given to a Department of Justice Employee.

Professional Memberships

Chambers USA, Leading Lawyer in California Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, 2021—present

Daily Journal, Top White Collar Lawyers, 2020—present

Daily Journal, Top 100 Lawyers in California, 2016

California Lawyer, California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award, 2008

The Best Lawyers in America, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, 2014—present

Two U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Awards, 2007 and 2015

The second highest honor awarded to a Department of Justice employee

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Administrator’s Award, 2002

U.S. Attorney General’s Award, 2000

The highest honor awarded to a Department of Justice employee

Board Member, Federal Bar Association, Los Angeles Chapter, 2018–Present

U.S. Attorney General’s Capital Case Review Committee, member, 2008–2012

U.S. Attorney General Criminal Chiefs Working Group, Ninth Circuit’s Representative, 2014–2015

Work Highlights

Criminal Defense and Investigations, Internal Investigations, and Qui Tam Litigation

Secured a declination of criminal charges for a client following a multi-year investigation of alleged timecard fraud at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant in Southeastern Washington.

Obtained the dismissal of a $20 million qui tam action alleging that a national construction company had engaged in bid-rigging, had improperly obtained projects from the federal government through programs designed to benefit small minority businesses, and had falsified costs associated with its projects.

Obtained the declination of criminal charges against a former Navy captain following a five-year investigation into allegations that the client oversaw government contractors who overbilled the United States Air Force by inflating the hours they worked to support a drone program located at a Middle East air base.

Obtained the declination of criminal charges against the former President of a prominent Southern California card club targeted for alleged money laundering and currency reporting violations.

Obtained the declination of criminal charges against a prominent public official investigated by the FBI for honest services fraud.

Represented the subject of a federal investigation questioned by the Drug Enforcement Administration in connection with the death of the late pop star Prince. No charges were filed against the client.

Obtained the diversion and eventual dismissal of charges against a Southern California businessman charged with federal money laundering and currency reporting offenses.

Represented the chief financial officer and the chief compliance officer of a global supplier of used computer network equipment in connection with their successful efforts to convince the Department of Justice that his company had complied with the requirements of a deferred prosecution agreement, and thus should not face criminal charges for its alleged involvement in a discount fraud scheme.

Advocated to the Department of Justice on behalf of the government of Malaysia for the return of billions of dollars misappropriated by former Malaysian officials and their associates as part of the largest kleptocracy case ever pursued by the United States government.

Provided legal advice to government entities and businesses in California regarding the implementation of Proposition 64 and navigating the conflicts between California’s Adult Use and Marijuana Act and federal drug laws.

Complex Civil Litigation and Trials

Representing the County of Los Angeles and the L.A. County Sheriff in connection with a high-profile and long-running civil rights case; ensuring compliance with a consent decree governing the operations of the Los Angeles County Jail system.

Representing prominent American attorney David Boies and his law firm in connection with claims brought by actress Rose McGowan concerning Boies’ representation of Harvey Weinstein.

Represented a large business management firm in litigation that led to the bank with the firm’s accounts repaying a portion of funds stolen from the firm by an executive.

Representing the estate of the late world-renowned singer and songwriter Jenni Rivera in a $10 million lawsuit over the violations of a non-disclosure agreement by Ms. Rivera’s former business manager.

Representing a digital media company in a lawsuit brought against the company’s former CEO alleging the misappropriation of millions of dollars from the company and the misappropriation of the company’s trade secrets.

Successfully resolved civil rights claims brought against a police officer falsely accused of sexual assault.

Obtained the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against an online magazine and its President alleging civil RICO claims.

Represented the former CEO and founder of a Los Angeles-based talent and literary agency in legal proceedings that led to the recovery of money that had been stolen by one of the corporate officers of the agency he led.

Represented Pabst Brewing Company in a lawsuit centered on whether the rapper Snoop Dogg was entitled to claim a portion of the proceeds from a stock-sale transaction in which a private equity group acquired all of the stock of Pabst’s parent company. The case was settled.

Served as a member of a litigation team that secured a victory for the Hammer Museum in litigation that was brought by the niece of the late wife of oil tycoon Armand Hammer. She had alleged that she was the rightful heir to $400 million of his fortune, including a sizable share of the art housed in the UCLA-managed museum bearing Hammer’s name. The judge granted summary judgment in favor of the museum.

Wrote the successful pleadings on behalf of the National Basketball Association that led to the dismissal of a lawsuit in which the plaintiff contended that rights she retained from the NBA Players Association entitled her to compensation for the use of animated NBA players’ likenesses in several popular video games licensed by the NBA.

Cybercrime

Supervised the prosecution of a group of Chinese operatives who hacked into computer systems that belonged to Boeing and various other defense contractors for the purpose of stealing sensitive military technology and other trade secrets.

Supervised the investigation of the 2014 computer intrusion into Sony Pictures Entertainment, which President Obama attributed to the North Korean government. As a result of the work Mr. Dugdale oversaw during this investigation, the President increased and initiated new sanctions against North Korea.

International Money Laundering

Led operations that targeted trade-based money laundering that occurred in the downtown Los Angeles Fashion District that garnered nationwide attention and led to the seizure of over $150 million in criminal proceeds and some of the largest seizures of bulk cash in the history of American law enforcement.

Insider Trading

Supervised the successful prosecution of a former high-ranking KPMG executive for insider trading. The executive admitted to passing along sensitive information about the accounting firm’s clients to a friend in exchange for cash and gifts, whose subsequent trading on inside information related to those clients had netted him over $1.27 million in illegal profits.

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