About Us

The Attorneys

Gene Iredale has tried over 160 cases to verdict in federal and state courts, in criminal and civil cases. An honors graduate of both Columbia College and Harvard Law School, he began practicing as a federal public defender, ultimately becoming the Chief Trial Attorney at Federal Defenders of San Diego. He has been in private practice for over twenty-five years. Gene has lectured all over the United States on trial practice, having taught at the National Criminal Defense College, and lectured to The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and California Public Defenders Association, among others.  He edited “Defending a Federal Criminal Case”. Gene has been listed for over twenty years in Best Lawyers in America (white-collar criminal defense and non-white collar criminal defense). He has a rating of AV from Martindale Hubbell.

Gene Iredale has practiced  in the Courts of Appeals as well, having argued more than 50 times before the Ninth Circuit, more than 20 times before state appellate courts, and twice before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was prominently mentioned in one other Supreme Court case Wheat v. United States 486 U.S. 153 (1988), in which Justice Marshall wrote in dissent: "...Especially in light of the scarce value of Bravo’s testimony, this prosecutorial behavior very plausibly may be viewed as a maneuver to prevent Iredale from representing petitioner at trial. Iredale had proved to be a formidable adversary; he previously had gained an acquittal for the alleged kingpin of the marijuana distribution scheme. As the District Court stated in considering petitioner’s motion: 'Were I in [petitioner’s] position I’m sure I would want Mr. Iredale representing me, too. He did a fantastic job in that [Gomez-Barajas] trial.' The prosecutor’s decision to call Bravo as a witness may well have stemmed from a concern that Iredale would do an equally fantastic job at petitioner’s trial." Wheat, at 170.

Mr. Iredale is joined by civil rights attorney Julia Yoo, an honors graduate of Wellesley College and the University of Colorado School of Law. In 2003, Julia joined Gene Iredale fighting on behalf of people whose Constitutional rights have been violated by wrongful arrest, illegal searches or the use of excessive force.  The firm has represented the families of persons wrongfully killed by police or federal agents. Julia has specialized in representing women prisoners and women who have been victims of sexual abuse.

Julia began her legal career as the Legal Director for the Law Center for Women Prisoners, a nonprofit legal clinic, advocating on behalf of incarcerated women.  Julia has won cases on behalf of a woman who was left to miscarry her baby in her cell; a woman sexually harassed by her parole officer; women who were sexually abused by their alcohol and drug counselor in a private prison; a woman raped in a janitor's closet by a corrections officer; and teenagers who were sexually assaulted by guards in a juvenile facility.   Since joining Iredale and Yoo, Julia has been handling cases on behalf of a minor who was shot in the leg by an off-duty police officer; people who were wrongfully arrested; and people who were subjected to excessive force by the police.

The Law Practice

Mr. Iredale and Ms. Yoo handle high-profile, complex criminal and civil rights cases in state and federal courts. Mr. Iredale has extensive experience defending clients - including law enforcement officers - accused of drug-related crimes, white-collar crimes such as wire fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud and RICO, violent crimes such as murder and charges of child abuse and possession of child pornography.

If a criminal case involves controversy or a difficult subject matter, Gene Iredale is often called upon to handle the case. Mr. Iredale has handled criminal matters domestically covered by such major television networks as NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC and TruTV (formerly known as Court TV), and internationally by the BBC.

The firm has handled other civil litigation including medical malpractice cases, invasion of privacy by illegal recording cases, and civil fraud cases. 

The firm has successfully defended criminal cases for the vice president of the Peregrine Corporation who was accused in a multi-billion dollar fraud indictment; for an official of a titanium distribution company; and for filmmakers who produced infomercials who were charged with mail and wire fraud. The firm has brought cases against police for abuse of the Taser, against government officials whose employment of the “hog-tie” restraint resulted in death of detainees and against police who use excessive force and search illegally. In one recent important case, the firm obtained a jury verdict of $2.4 million for an undercover Border Patrol Officer who was assaulted and injured by local police.  In a civil fraud case, the firm obtained a verdict of over $3 million against a businessman who had systematically defrauded his partner.