Meet Samuel Dordulian | Attorney representing survivors of sexual abuse

We had the good fortune of connecting with Samuel Dordulian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samuel, what’s the end goal, career-wise?
My end goal is to have a trauma-informed law practice exclusively dedicated to helping survivors of sexual abuse. After law school, I joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. I was a prosecutor for 13 years. For roughly half of my career, I was assigned to our Sex Crimes Division. That is when I understood how great it felt to help survivors of sexual abuse, especially if the victims were children. Now that I have my own law firm, I continue to dedicate myself to assisting those traumatized by sexual abuse. I now do it in the civil forum instead of the criminal forum. My aspiration is to continue to grow my practice where we exclusively handle these types of cases and devote ourselves to helping survivors overcome their traumatic past. I would love to a have a law practice that takes a wholistic approach and blends the emotional support piece with the practice of law. I currently have certified victim advocates as part of my practice, a former sex crimes detective as my investigator, and hopefully will soon add a full-time licensed clinical social worker to help arrange for counseling services to my clients.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

As I stated earlier, I started my legal career as a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. I did that for a little over 13 years. For about half of my prosecutorial career, I was part of the Sex Crimes Division handling all sorts of high-profile rape, sexual abuse, and child molestation cases for all of Los Angeles County. I had great success trying these types of cases and realized how amazing it was to help those who truly felt terrified and victimized. I saw women take the stand and face their abusers and gain strength and power on their healing journey. I saw survivors transform from scared and timid victims to powerful women taking back control of their lives. I realized that this was my life’s calling and continue dedicating my current private practice to helping survivors of sexual abuse. Not many attorneys practice in this field. But having the background as a sex crimes prosecutor has made the transition to representing survivors of sexual abuse in the civil arena relatively easy. With the extensive experience in handling these types of cases, I have brought to my practice a unique team approach not found in other law firms. First, I hired a former sex crimes detective I used to work with when I was a prosecutor – he is now our full-time, in-house Chief Investigator. As a retired LAPD detective, he is very familiar with sexual abuse cases and knows the sensitivity required to deal with survivors. I also have a certified victim advocate in my office to help our survivors navigate through this difficult time in their lives. I have created a team of experienced trauma-informed professionals to serve survivors. That is the secret sauce at Dordulian Law Group.

Building this practice wasn’t easy. As with many start-up law firms, I went through very difficult periods. Creating a practice dedicated to a small niche of potential clients isn’t easy. It’s very difficult to let the public know who you are and what you do, especially when you are serving such a small subset of the public. But sadly, sexual abuse is much more widespread than the general public believes and once we got our name out, survivors began to find us. I now run a thriving practice where I have created a team within the office that does nothing but sexual abuse cases. We have labeled the team SAJE- Sexual Abuse Justice Experts. Included in this team are not only attorneys, but my former sex crimes detective and a victim advocate.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
People visiting from out of town have this warped perception of Los Angeles. Because of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, people have this view of glamour all over the city. So, I like to take my out of town friends and show them the real Hollywood. They are often amazed at how different it really is from their initial perceptions. I do take them to Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars on the sidewalks, but also the dirt and grim they don’t expect. Balancing out Hollywood, I also take them to the most famous street in California… Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The glitz and glamour that many imagine can best be captured on strolls down Rodeo Drive. And if my friends get lucky and spot a celebrity, that usually makes their day. Of course, a visit to Los Angeles couldn’t be complete without a trip to our beaches. I like starting at Santa Monica beach then heading north to Malibu. Then, for a very different scene, I like to drive down to the nicer beaches of Orange County. The restaurants all along the coast are usually amazing, from Nobu in Malibu to the restaurants at the Montage or Ritz in Orange County. Finally, I show them the city that I live in – Glendale. It’s actually a beautiful city with a burgeoning shopping scene thanks mostly to the Americana at Brand and the Glendale Galleria. There are also some great restaurant options at the Americana, from steaks at Bourbon Steakhouse to Asian cuisine at Din Tai Fung to Italian food at The Amici.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I love my job. I love being an attorney. In particular, I love being an attorney that can help survivors of sexual abuse. However, I don’t think I would have ever considered being an attorney but for my 9th grade history teacher, Mr. Duffield. Growing up, I was a shy quiet child who avoided the spotlight. Following my mom’s dream, I thought I would grow up and become a doctor. But one day, Mr. Duffield announced that we would be doing a mock trial in the classroom, and he would assign roles to the students. For some reason, he picked me to be the prosecutor. I was terrified at the notion of standing in front of everyone and simply speaking, much less making arguments. But Mr. Duffield must have seen something in me I certainly didn’t. When I was forced to actually do the mock trial, in the role of the prosecutor, I found a power I didn’t realize I had. It was on that day I decided I would become an attorney and never looked back.

Thanks to Mr. Duffield, I am running a very successful law practice and at the same time feeling very satisfied with my career choice.

Website: sdordulian@dlawgroup.com

Instagram: @dlawgroup

Twitter: @DordulianLaw

Facebook: Dordulian Law Group

Yelp: Dordulian Law Group