December 2025 – For the sixth consecutive year, KBK Partner Robert E. Dugdale has again been selected by the Daily Journal as one of California’s Top White Collar Lawyers, an annual list that honors the “most influential and effective white collar defense practitioners” in the state.
Mr. Dugdale’s 2025 profile traces his legal career, from caddying for a former prosecutor, to leading the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to his current role as Partner at KBK – where his “understanding of prosecutorial power now informs [his] defense work.” The Journal highlighted several notable recent accomplishments in its writeup, including his work securing the dismissal of a $75 million lawsuit in favor of USC in connection with the “Varsity Blues” admission scandal and successfully obtaining a non-prosecution agreement for the City of Los Angeles following the largest untreated wastewater discharge in city history at the Hyperion Water Treatment Plan.
Mr. Dugdale is widely recognized as one of region’s best trial lawyers, specializing in criminal and civil government investigations and litigation, internal investigations, and civil fraud instigations. Throughout his career, he has successfully represented corporate clients, business leaders, celebrities, public entities, and other organizations and individuals. He has earned a number of honors, including recognition as one of the 2025 Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, a Leading Lawyer in California Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations by Chambers USA, the CLAY award, and continued ranking as one of The Best Lawyers in America for White-Collar Criminal Defense.
The Journal also quoted his perspective on changing tides in the white-collar landscape: “I think it is likely that the California Attorney General’s Office and District Attorney’s Office (particularly in Los Angeles, given that it is now led by a former AUSA who specialized in prosecuting white-collar cases) will start filling any void left by the U.S. DOJ when it comes to addressing the prosecution of white-collar crime.”
To read the Daily Journal’s Top White Collar Lawyers 2025 special edition, please click here.