Mr. Dowd’s practice focuses on federal litigation.  He has handled many complex civil and criminal cases and has represented numerous clients before the S.E.C., the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and many other federal and state agencies.

In 1999-2000, Mr. Dowd assisted former Senator John C. Danforth as the Deputy Special Counsel in a fourteen month investigation of the government relating to the Waco tragedy.

From 1993 to 1999, he served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.  In that capacity, Mr. Dowd set policy and supervised a staff of 46 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 42 support personnel in handling thousands of civil and criminal cases for the U.S. government.

Mr. Dowd personally tried three murder cases as United States Attorney.  The last two cases resulted in death sentences.  He served as Chair of the Attorney General’s Committee on Environmental Issues from 1995 to 1999.  He served as Core City U.S. Attorney for the Central Region of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.  He is the former President of the National Association of Former U. S. Attorneys.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorneys’ Office, Mr. Dowd was in private law practice at Dowd & Dowd for nine years, as a trial lawyer handling products liability, criminal, securities, copyright, negligence and commercial cases.

He served from 1979 to 1984 in the United States Attorneys’ Office as an Assistant United States Attorney.  He tried numerous cases including public corruption, mail fraud, white-collar matters, extortion and conspiracies to distribute drugs.  While serving as an Assistant U. S. Attorney, he was appointed regional director of the South Central Region (an eight-state region) of the President’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and supervised attorneys and federal agents in the conduct of their cases.

Mr. Dowd was a partner at Bryan Cave LLP from 1999 – 2006.  At Bryan Cave, he was a member of the following client service groups: Corporate Compliance and Defense, Healthcare, Environmental and Commercial Litigation.

Speeches and Seminars

Mr. Dowd  has testified in Congress and in the Missouri State Senate on environmental issues.  He represented the United States at an international environmental conference in Washington, D.C., and he has spoken at ABA, EPA and other conferences on environmental prosecutions and debarment.

He has spoken many times on legal matters, including at the Health Care Lawyers Association of St. Louis on Responding to Government Health Care Investigations on April 7, 2006.  He presented at the All-Star Criminal Law Seminar on Federal and State Criminal Practice for The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis on Responding to Government Investigations on March 28, 2007.

Civic Involvement

• St. Louis Bank – Director – Founder – Chairman of the Audit Committee
• National Association of Former United States Attorneys – President – 2008
• BackStoppers – President (BackStoppers is a police and firefighters fund to assist families of those killed in the line of duty)
• St. Louis Regional Crime Commission – President
• Honorary Chair of Fundraising Drive for Downtown Children’s Center
• Citizens for Missouri Courts – Trustee
• St. Louis Sports Radio, LLC – Board of Directors

Honors

• Dedication Award – 2007 – United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri
• Public Service Award – Department of Justice, for Mississippi River Environmental Council, 1999
• Award of Achievement – Missouri Police Chiefs Association, 2000
• Administrator’s Award for outstanding contributions to drug law enforcement – Drug  Enforcement Administration, 1999
• Award for Distinguished Service – Department of Justice, 1999
• Commendation from United States Department of Justice – Drug Enforcement Administration, 1984
• Department of Justice Outstanding Service Award, 1984
• United States Treasury Department, in recognition of support to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, 1984
• Recognition of service to the U.S. Forest Service – Law Enforcement and Investigations Bureau of USDA