Charles Lewis Rees

Charles Rees focuses his practice on Complex White-Collar Federal Criminal Defense and Qui Tam / Whistleblower actions under the False Claims Act. His clients include individuals, businesses, government officials and industry insiders.

Charles Rees is a former Assistant United States Attorney and an experienced trial lawyer who has practiced before the federal courts of the Ninth Circuit for twenty years. He began his career as a law clerk to a federal judge in Las Vegas. Following his clerkship he worked as an Assistant United States Attorney at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California in San Diego in the General Crimes Unit. During his time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office he tried numerous cases to trial, conducted investigations, presented cases to the Grand Jury and argued cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. After leaving the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Rees joined the prestigious multinational law firm Baker McKenzie where he represented subjects and targets of federal and state criminal investigations and practiced civil litigation. Since starting his own practice, Mr. Rees has defended numerous individuals and businesses charged in high-profile complex federal criminal cases, including: RICO conspiracies, Ponzi schemes, wire fraud, Medicare/Tricare fraud, computer hacking and drug conspiracies.

With his background as an Assistant United States Attorney and experience handling complex criminal and civil cases, Mr. Rees is particularly suited to represent whistleblowers and file successful Qui Tam actions under the False Claims Act.

Mr. Rees earned his law degree, with Distinction, from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1998. During law school Mr. Rees won the American Jurisprudence award for Legal Writing and competed nationally as a member of the Trial Advocacy Competition Team.

He received his B.S. in Finance from California State University, Sacramento in 1994.

* State Bar of California

* United States District Court for the Southern District of California

* United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

* Federal Bar Association (Qui Tam Section)