Robert C. Blume is a partner in the Denver and Dallas offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. His practice focuses on internal investigations, compliance, business crimes, and complex civil litigation. He also is an accomplished trial lawyer, having served more than seven years as a federal prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice where he earned four Special Achievement Awards from the Attorney General.

Mr. Blume represents corporations and individuals in local, state, and federal court and helps clients interface with government agencies around the country. In that capacity, Mr. Blume defends local and international clients in enforcement actions and investigations brought by the United States Department of Justice, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and various state law enforcement agencies. These investigations involve allegations of government contract fraud, accounting and securities fraud, mortgage and settlement service kickbacks, money laundering, Medicaid fraud, promotion of off-label medical devices, improper use of computer and electronic data, breach of consumer trust and protection, improper payments to government officials, illicit dumping and environmental crimes, and illicit price-fixing and anti-competitive activities. Mr. Blume’s practice inserts him within numerous client industries, including telecommunications, health care, financial services, oil and gas, construction and infrastructure, fuel services, resort and hospitality, and social networking.

Mr. Blume helps clients navigate through Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) investigations and compliance initiatives. He has been retained as outside compliance counsel for a number of publicly-traded companies, has drafted anti-corruption policies under the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act, and has led internal investigations and M&A due diligence in Europe, the Far East, Asia, Africa, India, the Middle-East, Central America, and South America. Mr. Blume works directly with Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and management regarding company practices, internal compliance programs, disclosure issues, human resource concerns, and remedial measures for improving compliance. Finally, Mr. Blume helped lead the investigation team for the Siemens FCPA Monitor and oversaw compliance for a number of companies operating under Monitorships.

Mr. Blume also advises on U.S. export control and OFAC sanction issues. He has successfully represented individuals in matters dealing with the Iranian Transaction Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations. He also has advised on matters involving the Arms Export Control Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and its implementing regulations.

Mr. Blume specializes in defending clients accused of False Claims Act (FCA) violations, including, among others, KeyPoint Government Solutions, where he first convinced the Department of Justice to decline intervention in two FCA actions and then convinced the Tenth Circuit to adopt a new standard to assess prior public disclosures; Deloitte Consulting, where he successfully defeated FCA whistleblower claims in the Northern District of Texas on Summary Judgment, successfully defended that ruling before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and separately obtained complete dismissal of another FCA case in the Western District of Texas; Conduent (formerly Xerox), where he worked on the trial team in a multi-billion dollar claim brought by the State of Texas under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Act; and Trinity Industries, where he oversaw multiple state qui tam actions and worked with GDC appellate counsel in successfully overturning a $663 million verdict in an FCA suit regarding allegedly defective highway guardrail end terminals.

Finally, Mr. Blume is a trial lawyer by experience and training, having tried dozens of jury and bench matters as a Trial Attorney in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, and Assistant United States Attorney, and as counsel for some of the Firm’s largest clients, including Amrock, Inc. (WDTX), Chevron Corporation (SDNY), Doral Bank (Puerto Rico), the Republic of Djibouti (UK Commercial Court), and Vail Resorts, Inc. (Colorado).

Mr. Blume lectures and publishes on many topics, including the FCA, the FCPA, internal investigation, search warrants, electronic evidence, and the unique role of an Internal Audit group. He also serves as a faculty member and instructor at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s Advanced Trial Advocacy Program in Washington, DC and its Advanced Deposition Skills training in Boulder, Colorado, and is a frequent guest lecturer at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver.

Before joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Mr. Blume served with distinction as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Assigned to the Homicide/Major Crimes Section, Mr. Blume investigated and tried more than fifteen homicide trials and twenty drug and violent crime trials in local and federal courts. Mr. Blume also served four years with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, where he investigated and tried organized crime and white collar cases involving RICO, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, credit card fraud, insurance fraud, computer security breaches, FCPA violations, obstruction of justice, money laundering, and conspiracy.

Mr. Blume graduated cum laude  from the Georgetown University Law Center and was the Associate Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal and a member of the Georgetown Criminal Justice Clinic. Mr. Blume received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Brown University. He is admitted to practice in Colorado, Texas, and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Blume currently serves as co-chair of the Rocky Mountain Regional Subcommittee of the ABA’s White Collar Crime Committee. He previously served as the national co-chair of the Corporate Criminal Liability Subcommittee. Mr. Blume is a member of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Professional Recognition

• Chambers USA  Litigation: White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations 2012-2023
• Super Lawyers,  Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2019-2023
• The Best Lawyers in America®,  Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Commercial Litigation; and Litigation: Securities, 2013-2024
• Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star, 2018
• Benchmark Litigation, Future Star, 2015-2017
• Law Week Colorado, Barrister’s Best White Collar Lawyer, 2016

Recent Professional Publications

• 2019 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2020)
• 2019 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2019)
• 2018 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2019)
• “FCPA Liability for Third-Party Conduct: Identifying Pitfalls and Minimizing Risk”, Practical Law (January 2019)
• 2018 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2018)
• 2017 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2018)
• 2017 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2017)
• 2017 Mid-Year FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2017)
• Canadian Court Upholds Chevron’s Corporate Separateness and Its Right to Defend Against Judgment Obtained by Fraud, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2017)
• 2016 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2017)
• 2016 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2017)
• 2016 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2016)
• 2016 Mid-Year FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2016)
• 2015 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2016)
• 2015 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2016)
• 2015 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2015)
• 2015 Mid-Year FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2015)
• 2014 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2015)
• 2014 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2015)
• 2014 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2014)
• 2014 Mid-Year FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2014)
• To Pay or Not to Pay Witnesses?, Law Week Colorado (March 2014)
• 2013 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Alert (January 2014)
• 2013 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2013)
• Torrid Pace of False Claims Act Recoveries Likely to Continue in 2013, G2 Compliance Report (February 2013)
• In-House Search Warrant Checklist, Law Week Colorado (March 2013)
• 2012 False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2013)
• 2012 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2013)
• Decoding FCPA Enforcement: The U.S. Government Issues Comprehensive Guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (November 2012)
• 2012 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2012)
• 2011 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2012)
• 2011 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2011)
• 2010 Year-End False Claims Act Update: Part 2, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (April 2011)
• 2010 Year-End False Claims Act Update: Part 1, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (March 2011)
• 2010 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2011)
• Do Rankings Matter? Transparency International Issues Its 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (November 2010)
• Overview of the New Colorado Medicaid False Claims Act, The Colorado Lawyer (October 2010)
• 2010 Mid-Year False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2010)
• 2010 Mid-Year FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2010)
• U.S. Health Care Reform Legislation Significantly Expands the False Claims Act, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (April 2010)
• 2009 Year-End False Claims Act Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2010)
• 2009 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2010)
• 2009 Mid-Year FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2009)
• President Obama Signs Legislation Significantly Expanding the Scope of the False Claims Act, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (May 2009)
• A Sword or a Shield – The New Administration’s Approach to Cybercrime and Cybercrime Fighting, The Champion (May 2009)
• 2008 Year-End False Claims Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2009)
• 2008 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (January 2009)
• “View From Here: Countering Corruption”, Legal Week (October 2007)
• Navigating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: The Increasing Cost of Overseas Bribery, The Colorado Lawyer (August 2007)
• The FCPA Enforcement Explosion Continues: Nine New Enforcement Actions in 2007 and Approximately 100 Active Investigations, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (July 2007)
• The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Recent Developments, Trends, and Guidance, Insights (February 2007)
• 2006 Year-End FCPA Update, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (February 2007)
• Recent Developments in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Gibson Dunn Client Alert (April 2005)