Practices:

• Litigation
  • Fraud and Criminal Investigations
  • Insurance and Financial Institutions

Industries

• Construction and Engineering

Experience

With more than 20 years' litigation experience as a public prosecutor and in private practice, Bob Lauchlan has defended entities, individuals and professional groups in grand jury proceedings, trials, and government and internal investigations, involving allegations of arson, bribery, kickbacks, bid-rigging, conspiracy, embezzlement, export and import violations, theft, industrial accident and death, money laundering, environmental offenses, narcotics offenses, property offenses, tax offenses, false advertising, false billing and claims, deprivation of honest public service, public corruption, and fraud (e.g. bank, consumer, health care, financial, insurance, procurement, real estate, securities, tax, and workers’ compensation fraud). 

Some successes are highlighted as follows:

• State court indictment against contractor for allegedly making false statements to lower workers’ compensation premiums, dismissed in its entirety with prejudice;
  
  
• State court indictment against construction foreman for allegedly making false statements to lower workers’ compensation premiums, dismissed in its entirety with prejudice against foreman;
  
  
• Developer of levee investigated for alleged violation of Clean Water Act, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
•  Ship repair company investigated for alleged violation of Clean Air Act, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Union officer investigated for alleged misuse of union funds, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Chinese software company investigated for alleged trade secret theft, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Developer charged with industrial death in fall of worker not wearing harness, allowed to plead no contest to minor offense;
  
  
• Insurance company investigated for alleged kickbacks to outside salespersons, who were alleged fiduciaries to beneficiaries of trusts, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Individual investigated in connection with remittances to Iran, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Federal court indictment against French citizen for alleged conspiracy, false statement, and shipment to Iran without a valid export license of aircraft parts made in the United States, dismissed in its entirety with prejudice;
  
  
• Hematology and nephrology medical groups investigated for alleged bribes and kickbacks in connection with allegedly excessive medical director compensation paid by hematology and nephrology centers, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Individual investigated for allegedly promoting various tax shelters, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount;
  
  
• Individual investigated for alleged arson, not charged with any offense nor fined any amount; and
  
  
• Numerous other client matters in which the Firm negotiated a civil versus criminal resolution, a misdemeanor versus felony disposition, or a no-custody versus a custody sentence.

As a state (Deputy District Attorney) and federal (Assistant U.S. Attorney) criminal prosecutor from 1986 to 1993, Lauchlan prosecuted fraud, homicide, narcotics, sex, theft and white collar criminal offenses, taking more than 50 trials to jury verdict. While serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he was responsible for the prosecution of 11 defendants, including a three-time campaign treasurer for a San Diego mayor, on charges that included illegal campaign contributions to candidates for the U.S. Congress. He also handled numerous bid-rigging, bribery, embezzlement and fraud cases, as well as the local prosecution of Kevin Artt, an alleged assassin for the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

A frequent author, Lauchlan has written about trade secret and intellectual property issues for Corporate Counsel, The Champion, The San Diego Lawyer and The San Diego Daily Transcript Law Journal.

Education

• J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 1981
• B.A., Wheaton College, 1978

Admitted

• California
• District of Columbia
• Missouri
• New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri