Marilyn Bednarski

Marilyn Bednarski is a partner in the law firm of Kaye, McLane and Bednarski, L.L.P., in Pasadena California, specializing in federal and state criminal defense and civil rights litigation. Marilyn began her career as a criminal defense lawyer in 1983 working with a death penalty defense lawyer in Los Angeles. She joined the Federal Public Defender's Office in Los Angeles in 1984. Marilyn’s career has spanned public service and private practice.

Marilyn tries cases in state and federal courts and has tried over a hundred jury trials in federal court. She has been very successful, once winning six acquittals in a row from juries. Marilyn has also been very successful in negotiations of dismissals and reduction of charges in all kinds of cases, including very complicated white collar fraud and securities prosecutions as well as other serious cases for example those involving guns and drugs.

Recently, after a three week trial and the jury’s guilty verdicts in one of the few Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases tried nationally, the court – fully informed of the facts—sentenced the client in this 14 million dollar foreign bribery case to 6 months in custody and home detention. During this same time period, in a federal child pornography case involving possibly the largest collection of child pornographic pictures and videos ever seized, Marilyn negotiated a settlement that saved the client from a jail sentence, and resulted in home detention despite the sentencing guidelines, prosecutor, probation officer all pushing for a sentence of many years in prison.

Marilyn is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and is on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College, in addition to several national trial advocacy programs, and has lectured extensively nationwide. On several occasions she has been acknowledged as a "Super Lawyer" in California and been named one of California's Best Women Litigators. She is well known nationally and enjoys a stellar reputation amongst her attorneys, judges and clients for hard work, creativity and dogged commitment to her clients. Amongst other passions besides work, Marilyn enjoys the outdoors, especially the mountains, and has traveled the world.