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Overview

John represents individuals and businesses in high-stakes disputes.

A specialist in white collar defense and investigations, John has handled all types of fraud cases as well as public corruption and bribery offenses, violations of international trade and export laws, anti-kickback statutes and regulatory offenses.  He also represents both relators and defendants in cases brought under federal and state False Claims Acts.  John’s clients often work in highly regulated industries, including health care, government contracts, and finance.  He has represented clients from all over the world, including elected officials, professional athletes, health care providers, lawyers, and financial advisors.

John has two decades of experience negotiating with the United States Department of Justice and state and local prosecuting agencies. He has persuaded prosecutors to narrow or dismiss potential charges, and he has convinced judges to dismiss indictments based on obscure and novel constitutional challenges. If a case is prosecuted, John dissects the charging document with creative, original motions. John has successfully challenged illegal searches and interrogations, resulting in the suppression of evidence and leading to complete dismissals.  At trial, John applies sophisticated techniques to identify jurors who will treat his clients fairly and presents them with a compelling narrative, supported by cutting edge technology, to support a verdict of not guilty.  John has prevailed at every level in the trial and appellate courts in California and elsewhere, including significant victories in both federal and state courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Courts of Appeal, and the United States Supreme Court. John has also had considerable success in getting wrongful convictions reversed based on prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel.  He has obtained reversals of two death sentences, multiple life sentences, and decades of prison terms.

On the civil side, John brings his considerable trial experience to bear when handling civil litigation and business disputes.  Having tried more than twenty cases to verdict, John prepares every case, big or small, as if it is going to trial.  This approach quickly exposes the pressure points that make either a favorable verdict or a favorable settlement possible.    

John graduated 7th in his class at UCLA School of Law.  After law school, John was an Associate at Morrison & Foerster, LLP in San Francisco.  He was a law clerk for the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. John went on to serve as a Deputy Federal Public Defender in the Central District of California, where he handled hundreds of challenging and unique cases and ultimately served as the Chief of the Los Angeles Trial Unit. John supervised 30 lawyers, led training in trial advocacy, and coordinated district-wide challenges to federal prosecutions.  He co-authored the Motions Practice chapter of the 2010 treatise Defending a Federal Criminal Case.  He was also an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School, where he taught Evidence for Trial Lawyers.

John was named Orange County’s “Lawyer of the Year” for Criminal Defense: White Collar by Best Lawyers® in 2021 and 2023, and has been selected to the Best Lawyers® list since 2019.  He was named as a Super Lawyers® “Rising Star” in 2009 and was selected to the Southern California Super Lawyers® since 2021.  He has also been recognized as one of the National Trial Lawyers “Top 100 Trial Lawyers.”

Representative Matters

  • Represented grocery wholesaler accused of international product diversion in multi-week federal trial in the Southern District of California, earned complete acquittal of all money laundering and mail fraud counts.
  • Represented a member of Congress charged in the Central District of California with concealing illegal campaign donations and making false statements to the FBI.  The conviction was reversed in a published decision based on John’s motion to dismiss for improper venue.
  • Represented professional athlete in parallel investigations by police and sports league, resulting in no charges and no league discipline.
  • Represented dozens of health care providers, entrepreneurs, and medical device companies under investigation for health care fraud, mail fraud, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, resulting in no charges against the majority of John’s clients.
  • Represented a physician falsely charged with conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute in the Central District of California.  After more than a year of contested litigation, the prosecution dismissed all charges against BKLW’s client.    
  • Represented parent charged with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and money laundering as part of the novel “Varsity Blues” case in the District of Massachusetts.
  • Represented NBA All-Star James Harden in a civil suit filed by a paparazzo alleging assault and battery.  Following a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, John and his team obtained a complete defense verdict.
  • Represented celebrity lawyer and presidential candidate Michael Avenatti in connection with fraud and tax evasion charges.
  • Represented a physician charged in the District of Alaska with five felony counts of tax evasion and obstruction; John and his team exposed serious prosecutorial misconduct which led to the removal and discipline of the entire prosecution team and IRS Investigators.  All five felonies were dismissed in exchange for a plea to a single misdemeanor and a fine of $25. 
  • Represented scientists and professors under investigation by federal grant agencies and the Department of Justice as part of the National Security Division’s China Initiative.  None of John’s clients were charged with an offense.
  • Represented the executive director of a network of alcohol and drug treatment centers in one of the nation’s first federal prosecutions alleging illegal patient-brokering and kickbacks under the 2018 Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”).
  • Represented an electrical engineer charged with economic espionage based on allegations that he exported advanced semiconductor technology to China; John negotiated the dismissal of all five felony counts in exchange for a plea to a single regulatory offense.  
  • Litigated a novel constitutional challenge to the National Firearms Act; John challenged Congress’ power to regulate intrastate possession of unregistered machine guns.  After  nearly five years of post-trial litigation, the Supreme Court vacated the conviction.     
  • Represented a physician accused in a 50-count indictment of over-prescribing opiates and other controlled substances; John’s client was facing a maximum sentence of more than 700 years, but John negotiated a plea to a single count and no jail time.  
  • Represented a young man accused of capital murder for killing a TSA Officer at the Los Angeles International Airport; John persuaded the U.S. Department of Justice to abandon its effort to seek the death penalty in exchange to a plea to life without parole.  
  • Led an international investigation on behalf of a Philippine national accused of smuggling firearms and explosives to the United States; John’s investigation exposed government misconduct leading to a formal investigation of the FBI by the Office of the Inspector General.
  • Tried one of the first federal prosecutions of a medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles; John defeated the prosecutor’s effort to seek a five-year prison term and after over fourteen years of creative litigation, all charges were dismissed.
  • Obtained reversal of a capital murder conviction in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and a published decision vindicating the constitutional right to present a defense.  John also defeated the government’s attempt to seek review in the United States Supreme Court.  

Professional Highlights

Recognition

  • Selected to the Super Lawyers® list since 2021
  • Named Orange County White-Collar Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America® 2021, 2023 
  • Selected to the Best Lawyers in America® list since 2019
  • Lawyer Delegate to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, 2017-2021
  • Selected to the National Trial Lawyers TOP 100 list for 2021

Speaking Engagements

  • Jury (de)Selection: How to Win Friends and Influence People, March 5, 2025, National Institute on White Collar Crime, Miami
  • Brady Evidence, March 2, 2023, National Institute on White Collar Crime, Miami
  • On the Record: Representing a Notorious Client in the Age of Social Media, April 13, 2021, Federal Bar Council American Inn of Court, New York
  • China, Economic Espionage, and National Security:  Government & Defense Perspectives, November 19, 2019, UC Irvine School of Law
  • Advancing Justice:  The Legacy and Jurisprudence of the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima, January 25, 2019, UCLA School of Law