Kevin M. Lally is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of its Litigation and White Collar and Investigations practice groups. A former federal prosecutor, Mr. Lally is an accomplished trial and appellate attorney with extensive experience successfully resolving large scale federal criminal investigations, complex civil matters and novel regulatory issues. He specializes in high-stakes litigation, white-collar defense, and internal investigations and his practice covers a broad spectrum of industries, providing critical legal counsel to corporations, public entities, financial institutions, private equity firms, and individuals.
With a career spanning nearly two decades as a federal prosecutor and now as a trusted legal advisor in private practice, Mr. Lally has earned a reputation for his strategic approach to navigating the intricacies of complex cases and utilizing his deep understanding of federal agency practice to confidentially secure successful resolutions on behalf of his corporate and individual clients before, among others, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). His diverse practice includes both plaintiff and defense representations and regularly addresses matters involving RICO, money laundering, AML compliance, insider trading, the False Claims Act, health care, bank and wire fraud, and cross-border regulatory compliance and criminal enforcement. He also has conducted large-scale internal investigations for corporations, addressing allegations of financial misconduct and regulatory violations.
During his tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California, Mr. Lally served as the Chief of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section, Deputy Chief of the Violent & Organized Crime Section and Senior Litigation Counsel in the Major Frauds Section. He prosecuted and supervised hundreds of cases that addressed virtually every area of federal criminal enforcement, including RICO, money laundering, health care fraud, wire fraud, computer crimes, narcotics distribution and diversion, wiretapping, and perjury. A skilled courtroom advocate, Mr. Lally tried 15 cases, convicting every defendant, and argued 18 appeals before the Ninth Circuit. His cases were among the highest profile and most significant prosecutions in the district’s recent history, earning him national recognition and multiple awards, including Prosecutor of the Year.
Awards and Honors
- Top 100 Lawyers, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2023
- Irish Legal 100, 2021 & 2022
- Legal 500 United States, Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense, 2020, 2021, 2022
- Criminal Law Trailblazer, The National Law Journal, 2020
- Director’s Award: Superior Performance by an Assistant United States Attorney – Appellate, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, 2017
- California Lawyer Attorney of the Year, Criminal Law, California Lawyer Magazine, 2013
- Prosecutor of the Year, Los Angeles County Bar Association, 2009
Professional Involvement
- California Lawyers Association Criminal Law Section: Executive Board Member (2020-2023); Advisor (2023-present)
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05
Nov
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Buchalter Adds Former Federal Prosecutor to Los Angeles Office
Firm News
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Buchalter is pleased to announce that Kevin Lally has joined the firm as a Shareholder in the Los Angeles office. A member of the Litigation […]
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16
Jul
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Kevin M. Lally, Featured in “The Rent Collectors: Exploitation, Murder, and Redemption in Immigrant LA”
Press
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Shareholder Kevin M. Lally is both a source for and a subject in author Jesse Katz’s nonfiction book titled The Rent Collectors: Exploitation, Murder, and […]
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10
Mar
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Kevin M. Lally, Featured in “The New York Times Presents: Sin Eater, the Crimes of Anthony Pellicano”
Press
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Shareholder Kevin M. Lally is both a source for and a subject in director John Pappas’s film The New York Times Presents: Sin Eater, the […]
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23
Feb
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Kevin M. Lally, Source for The New York Times
Press
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Former D.E.A. Agent Charged With Laundering Colombian Drug Money February 23, 2020 By Michael Levenson Federal prosecutors say Jose Ismael Irizarry used cash seized during […]
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31
Jul
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Kevin M. Lally, Featured in the Los Angeles Times
Press
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Sentence Upheld for Ex-Celebrity Private Investigator Pellicano in Wiretapping and Racketeering Case July 31, 2017 By Meg Bernhard After receiving his sentence, Pellicano said he […]
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25
Aug
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Kevin M. Lally, Featured in the Los Angeles Times
Press
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Anthony Pellicano, Former Celebrity Private Eye, Loses Bulk of His Appeal August 25, 2015 By Maura Dolan Reporting from San Francisco – Anthony Pellicano, a […]
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Presentation
Kevin M. Lally, Speaker in CLA Trial Advocacy Training Webinar
January 4th, 2022
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Presentation
Kevin M. Lally, Speaker in Columbia, South Carolina
September 1st, 2015
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Presentation
Kevin M. Lally, Speaker In Charlotte, North Carolina
November 1st, 2022
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- Represent plaintiff in civil RICO suit arising from half-billion dollar tax fraud and money laundering schemes.
- Secured dismissal with prejudice on behalf of national telecommunications company in civil action alleging Title III, Stored Communications Act, and Civil Rights violations.
- Negotiated DOJ’s release of $10,000,000 in seized funds to cover attorney fees in advance of health care fraud trial.
- Represented principal defendant at sentencing in high profile health care fraud case, securing a several hundred million dollar reduction in loss calculation and equally sweeping reductions in restitution and the term of imprisonment imposed.
- Represented major U.S. company in DOJ AML/BSA investigation and FinCEN inquiry.
- Conducted multiple internal investigations on behalf of national financial institutions involving a broad array of alleged criminal and civil violations and formulated responses to federal criminal and regulatory agencies.
- Represented financial adviser in federal insider trading and public corruption investigation targeting his client, a high-level elected official.
- Represented national financial institution in qui tam proceedings involving its compliance with state mandated escheatment procedures, securing a DOJ Fraud Section intervention declination and the dismissal of the False Claims Act lawsuit.
- Represented food supplier in federal investigation involving the cross-border distribution of potentially tainted products, securing prosecution declination.
- Represented employees of national financial institutions in federal and state grand jury and trial proceedings in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Oregon who provided government testimony in cases involving mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, false statements and murder.
- Advised company’s Board of Directors during investigation and subsequent indictment of its CEO for antitrust violations allegedly committed at prior place of employment.
- Presented multiple successful criminal referrals to DOJ involving fraud in the acquisition of health care industry businesses and products
- Prepared penalty assessment for pharmaceutical distributor in multi-jurisdictional DOJ opioid investigation.
- Represented health care provider in opioid-related licensure investigation, resulting in reinstatement of the client’s license.
- Secured diversion agreement on behalf of national automotive franchise that operated in violation of state Covid restrictions.
- Secured prosecution declination determination on behalf of a national financial institution and its employees arising from the handling and disposition of illegal firearms left in trust.
Mr. Lally earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law. He earned his B.A., cum laude, in Government and Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- Member of the California Lawyers Association’s Criminal Law Executive Board since 2000