December 2024 — The Daily Journal, which annually spotlights California’s leading white collar attorneys, has again honored Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP Partner Robert E. Dugdale among California’s Top White Collar Lawyers based on the strength of his recent casework and accomplishments in the field. This marks the fifth consecutive year Mr. Dugdale has received this distinction in the publication’s special edition.
In its 2024 profile, the Journal highlighted Mr. Dugdale’s recent successes in two long-running cases, including convincing the California attorney general to drop a politically controversial criminal investigation into his clients, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, former Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, and a well-known non-profit leader, after nearly two years of litigation. The profile also noted his role in securing a non-prosecution agreement in a federal Clean Water Act investigation related to the 2021 Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant flooding, which discharged over 12.5 million gallons of untreated wastewater into Santa Monica Bay.
As a KBK Partner, one of the region’s leading trial lawyers, and a former federal prosecutor who specializes in white collar defense and government investigations, Mr. Dugdale’s nearly 20 years of expertise in the federal system has served his clients well, with a winning record of keeping clients free of prosecution and out of the headlines. In addition to this latest award, he has earned numerous accolades, including his ongoing Chambers ranking as one of California’s Top White Collar lawyers and the CLAY Award.
The profile also noted that Mr. Dugdale served as a federal prosecutor prior to joining Kendall Brill & Kelly, where he now serves as a partner. Reflecting on his career, Mr. Dugdale shared, “now, as a partner at Kendall Brill & Kelly, I have been equally fortunate to find defending criminal cases as rewarding as that experience in many ways and to work with an outstanding team of attorneys at the firm.”