Cheryl M. Lott is the Los Angeles Chair of the Firm's Litigation Practice Group, Co-Chair of Buchalter's Cybersecurity Industry Group, and a Partner in the Firm's Los Angeles office. Ms. Lott represents corporate clients, banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions in both state and federal court. Her practice focuses on general business and commercial litigation, lender liability litigation, as well as labor and employment litigation, construction defect litigation, and class action defense. She has significant experience in preparing all aspects of a case for trial or arbitration. Ms. Lott co-chairs the Los Angeles office's litigation department.

Representative litigation matters that Ms. Lott has handled include defending financial institutions against claims asserting aiding and abetting Ponzi schemes or fraud, prosecution of civil bank fraud claims, defending clients in alleged employment discrimination and misclassification related matters, prosecuting trade secret matters on behalf of financial institutions, and prosecuting guarantor collection actions.

Ms. Lott also has extensive experience working on local, state, and federal regulatory matters and government procurement matters. In the regulatory realm, she has significant experience assisting financial institution clients with Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering procedures. Ms. Lott also assists clients in preparing for regulatory examinations, complying with consent decrees, and preparing training modules for CDD and EDD.

In the government procurement realm, Ms. Lott represents contractors and companies in the bid and RFP process and in protest proceedings once contracts are awarded. Ms. Lott has successfully challenged a public entity's multi-million dollar contract award, has advocated for clients before sub-committees of the Los Angeles City Council in relation to contract awards, and has advised clients on the legal requirements as they relate to establishing various qualified businesses as defined by the California Government Code.

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Languages
Spanish

Bar Admissions
California

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

Education
UCLA School of Law, J.D., Concentration in Critical Race Studies and Specialization in Corporate Law.

University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. in Political Science and African-American Studies, with a minor in Chicano Studies

Significant Accomplishments

• Aided Financial Institution client in remediating BSA/AML procedures, policies, and practices, close corrective action plans established by a consent order, and created training modules for CDD and EDD
• Successfully tried a matter involving a multi-million dollar guaranty action
• Prosecuted a civil multi-million dollar bank fraud matter and obtained judgment and an attorneys' fees award, and successfully defended the $20 million judgment on appeal
• Successfully defended lender in federal multi-district litigation involving over 250 separate cases
• Successfully defended lender in state court litigation involving repurchase obligation of over 300 securitized loans
• Successfully defend firm clients in discrimination matters
• Successfully defend firm clients in wage and hour class action matters
• Obtained favorable settlement in class action matter involving claims against the firm's client related to alleged misclassification
• Reached a favorable settlement in an EEOC alleged harassment matter
• Successfully defended materials suppliers in construction defect litigation
• Successfully defended a materials supplier in toxic tort/asbestos matters

Professional Activities and Experience

• Honored with the Justice Cruz Reynoso Community Service Award by the Mexican American Bar Association.
• Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America - 2025
• In 2019, Ms. Lott was recognized as an Emerging Leader at the UCLA Law Awards.

• Treasury's New Bank Secrecy Act Whistleblower Program

  By Cheryl Lott |January 2021

• Treasury's New Bank Secrecy Act Whistleblower Program

  By Cheryl Lott |January 2021

• Treasury's New Bank Secrecy Act Whistleblower Program

  By Cheryl Lott |January 2021

Additional ArticlesPost-Sale Successor Independent Duty To Warn

To Evaluate or Not to Evaluate? That is the Question

Anti-Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act: Are You in Compliance?

The Tension Between Privacy and 'Know Your Customer'

Congress Makes Sweeping Changes to Money Laundering Enforcement

New Whistleblower Program May Lead to Surge in Bank Secrecy Act Enforcement

Treasury's New Bank Secrecy Act Whistleblower Program

Cheryl Lott, Speaker at the 2016 SAMA Conference

Cheryl Lott, Speaker at the "30th Annual Lenders and Credit Officers Conference"

Cheryl M. Lott, Speaker at the California Bankers Association 30th Annual Lenders and Credit Officers Conference

Cheryl M. Lott and Richard P. Ormond, Speakers, California Bankers Association, "Bank Counsel Seminar"

Cheryl Lott, Speaker at Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations

Cheryl Lott, Speaker at the UCLA Law Fellows Saturday Academy

Cheryl M. Lot, Panelist at the Latina Futures Event

Anti-Money Laundering & Bank Secrecy Act