About David M. Dudley
When he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1984, Attorney David M. Dudley, like the majority of his classmates, could have taken a high-paying job at a large corporate law firm. Instead, he decided to devote his career to defending individuals charged with serious crimes, primarily in federal court, but in state courts as well.
Mr. Dudley believes that criminal defendants are, to varying degrees, scapegoats for larger social problems which government leaders are unwilling or unable to address directly. This scapegoating, much more intense and widespread in this country than in any other democratic nation, has led to the increasing criminalization of individual and organizational behavior. Such expanding criminalization has in turn fed a prison/industrial complex which generates tremendous income for those who participate in its operation, creating a revolving door which is not an unintended effect of the prison system, but its primary purpose. Without vast recidivism, the system would fail to provide the economic benefits to which those participants have become accustomed. As a result, our country incarcerates a higher proportion of its population than any other.
Through his experiences and his study of the criminal justice system and its history, Attorney Dudley has reached the conclusion that only the most violent criminal offenders, if convicted, deserve any prison or jail time whatsoever. That is why he has never served as a prosecutor.
For more than 25 years, Mr. Dudley’s law practice has taken him across the country. During that time, he has represented individuals facing major criminal allegations in 36 different states. He has handled matters in both the trial and appellate courts, state and federal, and has also represented defendants seeking post-conviction relief. He is admitted to the United States Supreme Court and seven federal circuit courts of appeal. He has also been admitted to practice in 44 federal district courts and 48 different state and county jurisdictions nationwide.
Because of his vast range of experience, Attorney Dudley brings to his client’s defense a level of competence difficult for other attorneys to match, no matter what the jurisdiction. The favorable results he has obtained for most of his clients throughout the nation has demonstrated that criminal defendants can often benefit from having an attorney from outside the district or state in which they are being prosecuted.