Mark MacDougall’s practice focuses on white collar defense as well as the representation of individuals and institutions facing legal challenges that cross international borders. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has extensive civil and criminal trial experience in federal and state courts across the United States.
Mr. MacDougall is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Best Lawyers in America and in Washington D.C. Super Lawyers. He is a trustee of the Federal Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and a director of the Center for Justice and Accountability, based in San Francisco.
During the early 1990s, Mr. MacDougall served as a federal prosecutor with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was the lead attorney in a series of highly successful financial fraud prosecutions. In private practice, Mr. MacDougall’s clients regularly include senior officials of the United States as well as foreign governments, corporate executives, public institutions and multinational businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. During the past decade, Mr. MacDougall has handled numerous noteworthy and unusual cases for clients facing a wide variety of civil claims, as well as charges of financial fraud, money laundering and public corruption. These have included cases of historic consequence, such as the federal civil suit that resulted in the recovery of the financial assets seized from the owner of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan that was destroyed by the U.S. Navy and the criminal defense of a former executive director of the CIA who was the highest ranking U.S. intelligence official ever indicted.
A recognized authority in the emerging legal specialty of reputational recovery, Mr. MacDougall also represents clients in combating the serious obstacles that arise when individuals and organizations are the targets of false public accusations by the media, government officials or commercial competitors. This aspect of his practice also regularly crosses national borders, as the Internet has provided a new and complex platform for the publication of false claims and allegations. Mr. MacDougall has obtained numerous public retractions, corrections and apologies for clients from leading publications and media outlets in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation and Western Europe.
Mr. MacDougall devotes considerable time to the pro bono trial representation of indigent defendants facing the death penalty. His work in this area has received national recognition, including the 2004 Foot Soldier Award from the NAACP and the 2006 Exemplar Award from the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association.
In addition, Mr. MacDougall directs Akin Gump’s extensive representation of religious institutes and congregations in the United States, Canada and Europe. He is an authority on the civil reconfiguration of religious orders and is a regular speaker and contributor at programs sponsored by the National Association of Treasurers of Religious Institutes and the Legal Resource Center for Religious.
Mr. MacDougall earned his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1978, his M.B.A. from Boston University in 1979 and his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School in 1985. He is a member of the Massachusetts, District of Columbia and Maryland bars. He is admitted to practice before various U.S. district courts; the U.S. Court of Federal Claims; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th Circuits; and the U.S. Supreme Court.