K. Lawson Pedigo

Complex Civil and Financial Litigation

Government Investigations and Proceedings

Accounting Claims Against the Federal Government

FDIC - Director and Officer Defense

White Collar Defense

Civil Forfeiture Actions

Securities

Indian Law - Accounting Claims Against the United States

Health Care Fraud and Abuse

Tax Litigation

Antitrust

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and International Fraud

Environmental

Internal Investigations and Legal Compliance Audits

 

EXPERIENCE

Lawson Pedigo, formerly with the United States Department of Justice's Tax Division and Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., joined Miller Keffer Pedigo as a name partner in 2004. He concentrates on representing individuals and entities involved in complex commercial and financial litigation matters as well as governmental investigations of all types.

Mr. Pedigo, licensed in 1985, has over thirty years of experience in litigation, including prosecuting complex financial frauds and tax cases for the United States Department of Justice. Since entering private practice, he has represented individuals and corporations in a wide range of complex financial litigations matters. He also represents clients in government investigations and audits of all types, including securities, Health Care Fraud and Abuse (civil, criminal and administrative) matters, FDIC claims against fiduciaries, tax, and Qui Tam cases. He has represented numerous clients in high-profile investigations.

Mr. Pedigo, who began his service in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Judge Advocate, was a Senior Trial Attorney with the Tax Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. In February of 1996, he was appointed to be a Special Assistant United States Attorney to act as co-counsel in the successful prosecution (after a two-month trial) of a major bank and tax fraud conspiracy in Austin, Texas, that caused an estimated loss of over $1 billion to the federal government. In 1999, he was appointed as Associate Independent Counsel and worked for Judge Kenneth Starr. In 2001, after a several month trial he successfully obtained an acquittal for his client in the U.S. v. Jeffus, et al. prosecution which was the largest EPA laboratory fraud case ever prosecuted by the Justice Department and the verdict was on the Wall Street Journal’s front page. In 2002, he successfully defended a significant ERISA matter involving fiduciary liability questions. In 2008, he successfully assisted a large Mexican bank recover millions of dollars of losses caused by a fraud scheme involving misconduct in three continents and seizing a jet aircraft. From 2006 through 2015, he represented the Choctaw and Chickasaws against the United States.

REPRESENTATIONS:

• He filed suit in 2006 on behalf of the Choctaw Nation and Chickasaw Nations prosecuting their historic accounting claims dating back to 1907 against the United States. In 2015, the United States settled for $186 million. Read Press Release
• He has represented Directors and Officers of financial institutions in responding to FDIC notices of responsibility for potential fiduciary claims as well as defended such claims in federal courts.
• He has represented individuals involved in securities litigation matters and has defended contentions involving hundreds of millions of dollars in losses claimed by investors as well as pursued claims in FINRA proceedings.
• He regularly works with entrepreneurs and companies in various capital market transactions.

MILITARY BACKGROUND

Mr. Pedigo retired from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He served as an Intelligence Officer in the Reserves (with a Top Secret security clearance). He received a number of military honors, including the Combat Action Ribbon for his service in Desert Shield and Desert Storm with the 8th Marines Infantry Regiment. His last billet was at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as an Instructor at the National Intelligence University.

ACCOUNTING AND TAX QUALIFICATIONS

Mr. Pedigo is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in Texas. In addition he was awarded a Master of Laws (LLM) in Taxation from Georgetown University and has made numerous CLE presentations on ethics, financial fraud and forensic topics.

LEGAL MEMBERSHIPS

Mr. Pedigo's past ABA activities include membership in the Section of Taxation, the Health Care Fraud Subcommittee of the White Collar Crime Section of the ABA, and Co-Chair of the Accounting and Tax Fraud Sub-Committee of the Criminal Laws Committee of the Business Law Section. He is active in the Dallas Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Committee.

PROFESSIONAL SPEAKING

Mr. Pedigo has made numerous presentations government investigations and internationally spoken on corruption issues and trial techniques in the American Legal System. In April 2004, he appeared at the United Nations (UNCITRAL) as a delegate to the United Nations Colloquium on International Commercial Fraud held in Vienna, Austria. In August 2004, he was co-presenter at a seminar titled "International Commercial Fraud: FCPA Prosecution and Defense Perspectives" sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel held in Houston, Texas. In 2007 he was a key presenter in Geneva, Switzerland on Strategies for International Tracing and Recovery of Fraud Proceeds.

EDUCATION

Mr. Pedigo received a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting in 1982, and a Juris Doctorate in 1985, both from Baylor University, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990.

Practice Perspective “The background of prosecuting complex federal financial crimes — as well as handling federal tax controversies, is invaluable for having insights on the prospective viewpoint an   attorney representing the federal government may follow approaching a particular situation.”