REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Criminal Defense
Few situations are as difficult as becoming the target of a criminal investigation. Prosecutors hold most of the cards and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Dulce is a skilled litigator who is not only knowledgeable about the criminal justice system, but an advocate with over 17 years of experience addressing the unique challenges criminal defendants face. She understands that every client is different and listens to each client’s concerns. Dulce has a proven record of success, including:
- Representing Howard Root, a public medical device company CEO, in a federal case in Texas. Following a month-long jury trial for alleged illegal off-label promotion and felony conspiracy, the jury acquitted Mr. Root and the company on all charges. Read more here.
- Representing an insurance agent in a felony prosecution for theft and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. After a two-week trial, the jury acquitted her on the felony charges and gave her a gross misdemeanor verdict.
- Representing a medical device company CEO in a felony Medicare fraud trial in federal court. After seven weeks of trial, the prosecution folded and offered a misdemeanor to settle the case.
- Representing a candidate for Minnesota Senate in an election fraud prosecution. The court dismissed the charges without a trial and invalidated the statute on constitutional grounds.
- Representing a caretaker who was accused of abusing a vulnerable adult. The court dismissed the charges without a trial for lack of probable cause.
- Representing a title company executive in a mortgage fraud investigation. Prosecutors dropped the investigation without charges.
Dulce has represented many other individuals, companies, and institutions in federal and state matters across a wide range of industries, from minor misdemeanor infractions to serious, complex felonies.
Civil Litigation
Dulce has experience handling a wide range of civil matters, from garden variety breach of contract cases to complex civil litigation. Her practice focuses on matters involving fraud, trade secrets theft, embezzlement and other regulatory and compliance violations, including:
- Representing dozens of corporations and non-profit institutions in cases arising under the False Claims Act (FCA). Examples include a Medicare Fraud case against one of the largest healthcare providers in the country. The court dismissed the qui tam claims on a motion to dismiss and the Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal on appeal.
- Representing individuals in FCA cases. Examples include an FCA case against over 80 orthopedic and neurosurgeons alleging they had received illegal kickbacks and participated in an off-label marketing scheme with a large medical device company. The district court dismissed the case and the First Circuit affirmed the dismissal on appeal.
- Defending clients against other civil fraud claims. Examples include a case against a group of chiropractors who were accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The claims against our clients settled for a small fraction of the plaintiff’s demand.
- Representing clients who are victims of fraud, theft and other white collar offenses. Examples include the beneficiary of a family trust in a case against the trustee based on misappropriation of trust assets. The trustee was replaced and the case settled on terms satisfactory to our client.
Internal Corporate Investigations
Dulce co-authored the introductory chapter to the Minnesota CLE guidebook on Handling Internal Investigations. She has guided numerous corporations through internal investigations involving high-risk regulatory and compliance concerns. Her practice includes domestic and cross-border investigations and crosses a wide variety of industry sectors: from life sciences to agriculture, construction, industrial manufacturing and academia. She understands the importance of tailoring an investigation to a client’s size, needs and particular business model, and brings the breadth of her experience with law enforcement agencies to bear in developing investigation strategies. Examples include:
- Guided Minnesota’s oldest golf club, the Town & Country Club, through its internal investigation and worked with prosecutors to develop criminal claims against an employee, who pleaded guilty in April 2018 to embezzling more than $1 million. Read more here.
- Working with the Special Risk Committee of a Fortune 500 agriculture company to investigate allegations related to a private foundation.
- Working with an industrial manufacturing company to investigate possible corruption, embezzlement, tax and employment violations reported by a former employee of its subsidiary in China.
- Conducting an investigation for a medical device company into alleged foreign corrupt practices act (FCPA) violations arising from kickbacks paid by a distributor to doctors in China.
- Conducting an internal investigation for a Fortune 500 medical device company into possible FDA violations reported by a group of disgruntled employees.
- Investigating research fraud claims on behalf of a university, and developing reports for its academic review panel on the findings.
- Investigating allegations of criminal sexual misconduct by a patient against a doctor at a healthcare institution.
Anti-Corruption Compliance
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has become a focus of increased concern among companies with global business operations, as the SEC and federal prosecutors have devoted more and more resources towards FCPA enforcement. Dulce is experienced in leading cross-border investigations into possible corruption and addressing the unique data privacy, linguistic and cultural challenges these investigations present. She also assists corporations that are proactively seeking to strengthen their anti-corruption compliance programs to limit enforcement risk, including:
- Leading anti-corruption acquisition due diligence for companies seeking to acquire businesses with global operations.
- Helping companies develop corruption risk-based strategies for vetting and retaining third party business partners.
- Conducting corruption risk assessments.
- Helping companies develop or improve their anti-corruption compliance programs and policies.
- Developing and leading anti-corruption trainings for officers, employees and third party business associates.