Robert Dugoni graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a degree in journalism and clerked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times before obtaining his doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law. He practiced as a civil litigator in San Francisco and Seattle for 17 years. In 1999 he left the full-time practice of law to return to writing. He is the author of the popular David Sloane series of books and the Tracy Crosswhite series.