Caldwell Leslie | Michael J. Proctor




Alastair J. Agcaoili Benjamin B. Au Linda M. Burrow Christopher G. Caldwell David C. Codell, Of Counsel Robyn C. Crowther Andrew Esbenshade Jeanne A. Fugate Albert Giang Jeffrey M. Hammer Arwen Johnson Aron Ketchel Lennette W. Lee Michael R. Leslie Joan Mack Alison Mackenzie Laurie Martindale Matthew W. O'Brien Heather Pearson Eric S. Pettit Michael J. Proctor Michael D. Roth Michael V Schafler Sandra L. Tholen David K. Willingham Tina Wong David Zaft	Michael J. Proctor proctor@caldwell-leslie.com	"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will." -Frederick Douglass




	Michael Proctor specializes in the difficult case. He is a superior trial lawyer and litigation strategist who relishes the tough fight on behalf of his clients. He practices white collar criminal defense and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Proctor leads Caldwell Leslie's White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance practice group and is a name partner of the firm. Recently described by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as among "the state's most renowned criminal defense attorneys," Mr. Proctor has successfully represented numerous corporate and individual clients in criminal, quasi-criminal and civil matters. Mr. Proctor has considerable courtroom experience in litigating cases throughout California. He has particular expertise representing companies and individuals in securities fraud actions and related SEC investigations, an area for which he was singled out in a recent Top Southern California Law Firms edition of the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Mr. Proctor has had similar success in defending clients in cases involving RICO, conspiracy, political corruption and campaign finance fraud, and virtually all other manner of white collar criminal matters. Mr. Proctor is a graduate of The Yale Law School, where he won the school's top prizes for oral and written advocacy. He learned how to litigate at San Francisco's Keker & Van Nest, where he successfully litigated dozens of complex criminal and civil cases on behalf of both corporate and individual clients. His trial skills were forged during his five-year tenure as a trial deputy in the Office of the Federal Public Defender, in Los Angeles. Mr. Proctor joined the firm in 2002. Mr. Proctor teaches trial advocacy at the University of San Francisco School of Law Intensive Advocacy Program, where he has been a faculty member since 2000. His teaching extends to published articles, most recently Supreme Court Unmandates White Collar Sentencing: Putting the Guide Back in Guidelines (with Michael V Schafler), which appeared in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journal. He is also a frequent commentator on white collar criminal law issues for national news organizations including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and the Associated Press. Mr. Proctor has recently been honored as a "Southern California Super Lawyer" by the publishers of Los Angeles magazine and Law and Politics magazine and is listed in Best Lawyer's Annual Guide to Criminal Defense Law. Representative Cases In a groundbreaking and published decision, Mr. Proctor won a complete dismissal of all charges against the client, who was charged in Federal court with "harboring" her fugitive husband. The court ruled that Federal prosecutors had arrested the client without probable cause to believe a crime had been committed. The client was released and all charges were dismissed seven days after the case was filed by the United States Attorney's Office. In a fraud and immigration case, Mr. Proctor and Andy Esbenshade obtained a dismissal of all criminal charges for their client in Federal court. The case was investigated by Department of Homeland Security agents who, Mr. Proctor and Mr. Esbenshade alleged, had a vendetta against the client. Mr. Proctor and Mr. Esbenshade served the United States Attorney's Office with a copy of a 53-page motion to dismiss for outrageous government conduct, which accused the agents (with the assistance of the United States Attorney's Office) of improperly and vindictively targeting our client. After reviewing and investigating our motion, the US Attorney's Office agreed to "voluntarily" dismiss the case. Mr. Proctor represented a person criminally charged in a high-profile political contribution case recently brought by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. Arguing a motion that analyzed over thirty years of legislative history relating to the Political Reform Act, Mr. Proctor obtained a complete victory for his client, resulting in the dismissal of all charges. Mr. Proctor and Chris Caldwell successfully defended Gap Inc. in a real estate property lease case pitting our client against one of the wealthiest commercial landholders in the United States. Although the plaintiff sought damages in excess of $6 million, Mr. Proctor and Mr. Caldwell systematically attacked the case through the filing of dispositive evidentiary motions at trial. After two weeks of evidentiary hearings, the trial court rejected almost all of the claimed damages, and the plaintiff capitulated. Mr. Proctor successfully litigated a $2.5 million asset forfeiture matter arising out of allegations of criminal money laundering, structuring and willful avoidance of import duties. On the eve of trial, the government capitulated, agreeing to a settlement giving back over 96% of the property seized, including all of the clients' real estate holdings. Mr. Proctor represented a client facing loan and consumer fraud charges arising out of his activities at a Los Angeles area car dealership. Because of Mr. Proctor's pre-filing investigation and negotiation, the prosecutor decided not to pursue the case against the client—notwithstanding earlier representations that felony charges were "inevitable." Mr. Proctor represented a corporate executive and his company facing federal criminal charges for bribery and political corruption arising out of the bid process for contracts with the City of Oakland and County of Alameda. After Mr. Proctor filed motions, the case was successfully resolved such that all charges were dismissed against the executive. The company paid a nominal fine and was not debarred from future business. Mr. Proctor obtained a defense against the federal government's attempt to impose large civil forfeiture penalties on a Daimler-Chrysler executive whose uncle had committed massive fraud. Mr. Proctor has been appointed by the United States District Court as an "independent prosecutor" in an under seal, confidential criminal investigation. Mr. Proctor obtained the first ever reversal of a conviction in federal court based on the LAPD Rampart scandal. Mr. Proctor's investigation in the matter, which involved law enforcement officers perjuring themselves, was widely reported in the media. Mr. Proctor successfully defended, through motions for summary judgment, GE Capital in a $53 million securities fraud action arising out of a leveraged buy-out of Casablanca Fan Company. The victory was later affirmed by the Court of Appeal. See Paracor Finance, Inc.,et al., v. General Electric Capital Corporation, et al., 96 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 1996). Mr. Proctor obtained a complete defense for a major software manufacturer in a securities fraud action arising out of allegations of improper accounting practices and "stuffing" the distribution channel. Mr. Proctor has conducted numerous internal investigations for Fortune 500 companies and has advised corporate clients in the area of corporate governance and compliance. Mr. Proctor obtained freedom for a Salvadoran Widower who faced criminal charges and deportation in federal court. Click here, here and here for related articles. Mr. Proctor, representing a retarded man on federal charges, obtained a suppression of the evidence and a dismissal of all charges. Education and Honors J.D. The Yale Law School, 1990 Senior Editor, The Yale Law Journal Yale Moot Court of Appeals: Recipient, 1989 Thurman Arnold Prize for Best Oral Argument Co-recipient, 1989 Potter Stewart Prize for Best Overall Team Coker Fellow: Assistant in Instruction in Constitutional Law (taught under Professor Akhil Reed Amar) Research assistant to Professor Judith Resnick; research for Professor Resnick's article, Dependent Sovereigns: Indian Tribes, States, and the Federal Courts, 56 U. Chi. L. Rev. 671 (1989) Supervised Analytic Writing, completed under Professor Geoffrey C. Hazard, with Honors: Tribal Jurisdiction Over Nonmember Indian Criminal Defendants Selection Committee Member, The Dean Thomas Lecture Series A.B. University of California at Berkeley, 1986 Research Assistant to Professor Reinhard Bendix Professional Achievements Member, California State Bar; U.S. District Court, Central and Northern Districts of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Attorney, Keker & Van Nest, 1990 - 1997 Trial Deputy, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California, 1997 - 2002 Member of the Board of Directors, Los Angeles Federal Bar Association, since 2003 Member, American Inn of Court (Los Angeles Criminal Justice Section), since 2003 Member, United States District Court Criminal Justice Act Defense Panel, Central District of California, since 2002 Faculty member, University of San Francisco School of Law Intensive Advocacy Program, since 2000 Lecturer, Practical Aspects of Practicing Law (Criminal Law), Beverly Hills Bar Association President, Cutthroat Lawyers' Bar Association Author, Supreme Court Unmandates White Collar Sentencing: Putting the Guide Back in Guidelines, Executive Counsel, May/June 2005 (with Michael V Schafler) Author, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Will Become True Guides, Not Mandates: 'Booker' Could Empower Attorneys, Judges in Applying Ruling to Cases, Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, January 20, 2005 (with Michael V Schafler) Author, An Employer's Duty to Indemnify an Employee for Costs of Defending Criminal Actions, White Collar Crime 1993 (American Bar Association) (with Robert A. Van Nest) Author, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa: A Weberian Analysis, The American Indian Quarterly (1986)