Robert J. Gaudet, Jr. was inspired by the civil rights movement to become a lawyer and work for social justice. He studied theology at Oxford and discovered that the representation of plaintiffs who were injured by other people was consistent with his sense of moral purpose in the legal profession.
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Mr. Gaudet is a plaintiff's civil rights, human rights, employment, wage and hour, and discrimination lawyer. He has litigated major cases regarding consumer protection, RICO, Bivens Constitutional rights, breach of contract, fraud, and other cases across the United States, some of which were reported on The Today Show and in various newspapers and legal trade publications. He is licensed in Texas and Washington and works with lawyers in other jurisdictions, e.g., Virgina, California, and New York. He also represents a leading micro-finance institution, Oikocredit, that manages nearly $1 billion in assets with loan transactions in the United States.
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Mr. Gaudet served as co-chair and vice-chair of the American Bar Association Section of International Law Human Rights Committee, is now a member; is currently a board member of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children; and is a member of Public Justice. He was chair of the Lawyers Tent City Task Force, providing free legal clinics for homeless residents of Seattle’s Tent Cities; a volunteer at the Union Gospel Mission legal clinics; Parliamentarian of the King County Democratic Central Committee; and chair of a Washington State Bar Association Civil Rights Committee investigation into racial discrimination in the Olympic Peninsula.
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During law school, Mr. Gaudet worked as a summer associate at Ness Motley Loadholt Richardson & Poole PA; Baker Botts; Bear Stearns Risk Arbitrage Desk; Susman Godfrey; Roberts Sheridan Kotel; and Habitat for Humanity International’s Legal Department. Mr. Gaudet is licensed to practice law in the State of Washington.  Â
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Prior to law school, Mr. Gaudet worked as a paralegal at the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, by assisting prosecutions of police officers, e.g., Louisiana officers who killed a civilian woman who complained about excessive force to the Internal Affairs Division; compiling a database of hate crimes against Muslim mosques and institutions; and by assisting prosecutions for peonage and racial violence. Â He interned for the Clinton White House Office of Public Liaison; the Democratic National Committee Office of Latino Affairs; and Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA).
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During college, Mr. Gaudet worked as a Peace Monitor for the Wits/Vaal Regional Peace Secretariat around Johannesburg, South Africa to help ensure a smooth transition from apartheid to democracy under the auspices of the National Peace Accord.