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Gary K. Brucker, Jr.

Partner

Gary Brucker is a partner in the San Diego office of Lewis Brisbois and co-chair of the Government Investigations & White Collar Criminal Defense Practice. Whether you are seeking corporate counsel or an experienced trial lawyer, Gary will vigorously yet tactically and efficiently protect your rights. He has experience handling a wide range of complex commercial, white collar, and employment matters. His depth and breadth of practice allows him to serve as outside general counsel to many of his clients.

Gary’s commercial practice focuses on complex business and real estate disputes and transactions. His experience includes corporate counseling and litigation regarding commercial transactions; sponsorship, dealership, and licensing agreements; business torts; trade secrets; trademarks; false advertising; civil antitrust, Business & Professions Code § 17200, and the Cartwright Act; commercial leases; and nuisances.

Gary’s white collar practice focuses on all manners of fraud, financial crimes, conspiracy, antitrust, the False Claims Act, public corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, RICO, and environmental crimes. His experience includes compliance counseling, representing business and individuals confronted with governmental investigations, defending white collar criminal prosecutions, and crisis management. His representative engagements have involved the US DOJ, SEC, FTC, DOC, DCIS, NCIS, IRS, California DOC, California FTB, California AGO, and local District Attorney’s Offices.

Related to Gary’s commercial and white collar practices, his employment practice focuses on employee misconduct, such as bribery, self-dealing, theft of trade secrets, breaches of employment agreements, and employee raiding. His experience includes counseling on the creation of policies and procedures designed to deter employee misconduct, conducting internal investigations into allegations of misconduct, counseling on employee discipline, prosecuting claims against wrongdoers, defending claims brought by wrongdoers and whistleblowers, and managing public relations efforts during times of crisis.

Representative Cases

  • Defense of and below guideline sentence of probation for former U.S. Navy officer in connection with a sprawling and high-profile bribery and fraud case.
  • Defense of government contractor in a wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation action—unanimous defense verdict; no appeal.
  • Defense of wireless carrier in a half-billion dollar breach of contract, fraud, and Cartwright Act action involving self-dealing former employee—dismissed via summary judgment; affirmed on appeal (unpublished).
  • Defense of government contractor in a False Claims Act and whistleblower retaliation action—dismissed via pre-answer motion; affirmed on appeal (unpublished).
  • Defense of bank in a civil RICO action involving a commercial lending dispute—dismissed via pre-answer motion; no appeal.
  • Defense of mortgage company in a civil securities fraud action—successful trial on damages only.
  • Defense of San Diego’s premier restaurant and nightclub in a lease dispute involving allegedly excessive sound and vibration—defense verdict, appeal dismissed.
  • Defense of wireless carrier in a series of consumer class actions involving consumer fraud—three dismissed via pre-answer motion; two affirmed on appeal (Bower v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, 196 Cal. App. 4th 1545 (2011) and Yabsley v. Cingular Wireless, LLC, 176 Cal. App. 4th 1156 (2009)), one appeal dismissed.
  • Defense of retailer in a wage and hour class action involving paid time off dispute—dismissed via summary judgment; affirmed on appeal (unpublished).
  • Defense of litigation support company in a consumer fraud class action—class certification denied, voluntarily dismissed.
  • Prosecution of contract claim for motorcycle racing company—arbitration award in client’s favor.
  • Defense of motorcycle distributor in an indemnity action—voluntarily dismissed pretrial.
  • Defense of motorcycle distributor in dealership termination protest—voluntarily dismissed pretrial.
  • Prosecution of trademark, contract, and interference claims on behalf of motorcycle manufacturer and distributor—permanent injunction granted.
  • Prosecution of trademark, contract, and interference claims on behalf of motorcycle manufacturer and distributor—permanent injunction granted.
  • Prosecution of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and accounting action by widow of one of the defendant’s owners—received special verdict, settled post-special verdict on favorable terms.
  • Prosecution of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and Penal Code § 496 action by investors against beef packing company—received jury verdict, including punitive and treble damages, settled post-trial on favorable terms.
  • Prosecution of fraud, conversion, and Penal Code § 496 by employer against former employee—settled on favorable terms.
  • Representation of Charter School CMO in multi-year criminal investigation—avoided prosecution.
  • Representation of nonprofit developer in LA City Attorney’s Office code-enforcement prosecution—dismissal received.
  • Representation of small business owner in a four-year criminal investigation by IRS—received prosecutorial declination letter.
  • Representation of small business owner in a SEC investigation—received no action letter.
  • Prosecution of civil Cartwright Act claim asserting a refusal to deal on behalf of a biotech company – settled on favorable terms.
  • Defense of government contractor in civil action alleging bribery and public corruption in violation of Government Code § 1090 – settled on favorable terms.
  • Prosecution of fraudulent conveyance claims for excessive distributions against Ponzi scheme investors, including a state investment fund, on behalf of a court-appointed receiver – settled on favorable terms.

Admissions

  • State Bar Admissions
    • California
  • United States District Courts
    • United States District Court for the Central District of California
    • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
    • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
    • United States District Court for the Southern District of California
  • United States Courts of Appeals
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Other Admissions
    • United States Tax Court

Admissions

California

US District Court for the Central District of California

US District Court for the Eastern District of California

US District Court for the Northern District of California

US District Court for the Southern District of California

US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

US Tax Court

Associations

  • University of Michigan Club of San Diego, President
  • San Diego County Bar Association
  • Downtown San Diego Partnership
  • San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
  • Board of Governors, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (San Diego)
  • Barrister, Enright Inn of Court

Awards & Honors

Listed in Best Lawyers in America® 2023-2024 — Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Litigation - Real Estate

For his “outstanding commitment to public service,” he has received the Project Comunidad Juan Tienda Fellowship while studying at the University of Michigan. In 2009, Gary was named one of San Diego’s most promising young lawyers by the San Diego Daily Transcript. “Gary is also adding to his accolades having been named as a Super Lawyers Honoree in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 after being selected to the "San Diego Rising Stars" List by Super Lawyers in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.”

Education

University of Michigan Law School

Juris Doctor, cum laude, 2005

University of California at San Diego

Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, 2002

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