Mark J. Krudys works at The Krudys Law Firm PLC. As early as middle school I knew I wanted to be a trial lawyer. I attended Baylor Law School in Texas principally because of its nationally recognized trial advocacy program; U.S. News & World Report ranks Baylor’s Trial Advocacy program as the 3rd best in the nation.
As discussed below, in 1993 I earned a Master of Laws degree (L.L.M.) in Securities Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center.
After law school, I attended the U.S. Marine Corps’ Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. I joined the Marines because I wanted to serve my country and because I wanted to get a significant amount of “first chair” trial experience. Upon graduation, I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
Thereafter, I attended The Basic School, which is also located in Quantico. Then, I attended Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon graduation, I received orders to Okinawa, Japan, where I began my legal career as a Judge Advocate. As a prosecutor, and later, defense counsel, in the Marine Corps, every week I tried courts-martial and administrative hearings.
Most importantly, after almost every case that I tried, I received helpful feedback from accomplished military judges and other senior lawyers. I subsequently served as a Legal Assistance Officer at Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia. There, I assisted primarily flag and field-grade officers, as well as enlisted personnel, with legal issues.
Upon completing military service, I joined the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. While with the SEC from 1990-1993, I investigated and/or litigated civil violations of the federal securities laws, including insider trading, market manipulation, and accounting fraud.
Along with other Commission attorneys, I successfully brought claims against two notorious penny stock promoters, Meyer Blinder and Robert E. Brennan. I also was a principal attorney in an investigation of almost 100 banks and brokerage firms, which led to a Rule 21(e) Report regarding wrongful bidding practices for bonds issued by government-sponsored enterprises, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
I was then selected by the Head of the Division of Enforcement to serve as a federal prosecutor (Special Assistant U.S. Attorney) in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, assigned to the Securities Fraud Unit.
While assigned to that Unit, I prosecuted criminal violations of the federal securities laws, including insider trading, market manipulation, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, perjury, and making false statements to a government agency.
I obtained convictions in cases involving a nationwide broker payoff scheme; a multi-state financial fraud involving cellular telecommunications; insider trading by principals of a publicly traded company; and embezzlement by a registered agent.
Representative of the nature of the cases that I handled, I also investigated the marketing and sale of certain limited partnerships by a major broker-dealer, resulting in the establishment of a $292.5 million claims fund for investors, and the payment of fines to the U.S. Treasury.
In addition to securities cases, I successfully prosecuted other criminal cases, including obtaining a conviction of a major cocaine importer after a weeklong trial.
I next entered private practice as a partner with a national law firm based in Richmond, Virginia, where my practice was concentrated on the representation of a major brokerage firm. In 1999, I left the large law firm to exclusively represent individuals and small businesses in civil litigation. I am drawn to the “little guy.” That is whom I generally represent.
I have served on a number of leadership positions in national, state, and local Bar associations. National. I served as both Co-Chair and Chair of the Securities Arbitration Subcommittee (Corporate and Business Litigation Committee) of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Also, I previously held the position of Chair of the ABA’s Securities Enforcement Subcommittee (Business Law Section). I also served as Vice-Chair, and then Chair, of the Criminal Laws Committee of the ABA’s Section of Business Law.
In 2003, I was appointed by then-ABA President Dennis Archer to serve on a 14-member commission called the Kennedy Commission.
This special commission was formed to examine criticisms of mandatory minimum sentences raised by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in his August 2003 speech to the Opening Assembly at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The Commission made many recommendations that are now a part of U.S. criminal law.
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