Professional Profile

Charles Pereyra-Suarez has handled a broad range of civil and criminal matters during more than three decades of practice. Mr. Pereyra-Suarez's experience includes complex business litigation, white collar criminal defense, real estate, employment, healthcare, environmental, antitrust, civil rights and First Amendment representation. As a "neutral" in alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") matters, he also has conducted many mediations and arbitrations of litigation and business disputes.

Mr. Pereyra-Suarez has served as a litigation partner in two national law firms, as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, and as a trial and appellate attorney in the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Additionally, he has been active in numerous professional, educational and civic endeavors as a board member, lecturer, author, law professor and judge pro tem. A native of Uruguay, South America, he is fluent in Spanish.

Utilizing the experience gained in civil litigation and white collar criminal defense matters, Mr. Pereyra-Suarez has represented clients who have faced parallel proceedings in criminal, civil and administrative forums. He has negotiated global dispositions of such matters in cases involving alleged healthcare fraud, procurement fraud, bank fraud, consumer fraud and environmental crimes.

Mr. Pereyra-Suarez's litigation and client counseling experience allows him to mediate or arbitrate a wide variety of cases. Moreover, his work as an ADR neutral has included resolution of notable "high-stakes" matters. He has acted as an arbitrator, and as the chair of three-arbitrator panels, in connection with significant multi-million dollar disputes.

Mr. Pereyra-Suarez received his B.A., magna cum laude, in 1970 from Pacific Union College. In 1975, he received his J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley, where he was a member of the Ecology Law Quarterly and the Moot Court Board. He is admitted to practice in California and the District of Columbia, federal trial and appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Pereyra-Suarez has received extensive dispute resolution training in many subject areas.

Areas of Practice

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Civil and Criminal Matters
• Complex Business Litigation
• White Collar Criminal Defense
• Real Estate
• Employment
• Healthcare
• Environmental
• Antitrust
• Civil Rights
• First Amendment Representation

Bar Admissions

• California, 1975
• District of Columbia, 1980
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1985

Education

• University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, California, May, 1975
  J.D.
  Honors: Member, Ecology Law Quarterly
  Honors: Member, Moot Court Board
  Honors: Clinical Semester -- LEAA Criminal Justice Management Training Program
  Honors: Invitee, UCLA Law Review, 1970 - 1971
  
  
• Pacific Union College, Angwin, California, June, 1970
  B.A.
  Honors: Magna Cum Laude
  Honors: Editor-in-Chief, Campus Chronicle
  Honors: Awarded Highest "All American" Honor Rating by Associated Collegiate Press
  Honors: President, Senior Class
  Honors: President, Foreign Languages Club
  Honors: Member, Student Senate
  Honors: Student-Faculty Council
  Major: History
  Major: Rhetoric and Public Address
  
  

Published Works

• "Litigation Issues in Fraud and Abuse", (Co-Author), Whittier Law Review, 1997
• "Ring Around the White Collar: Defending Fraud and Abuse", (Co-Author), Whittier Law Review, 1996
• California Practice Handbook; Pretrial Disposition, (Co-Author), Matthew Bender & Co., 1993
• "Enhanced Criminal Sanctions for Workplace Safety Violations", (Co-Author), The Complete Lawyer, Spring, 1993

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Lecturer, Environmental Criminal Defense Strategies, Law Education Institute, 1993 - 1994
• Adjunct Professor, Trial Advocacy, Southwestern University School of Law, 1990 - 1993

Honors and Awards

• Listed in Who's Who in American Law
• Listed in Martindale-Hubbell Register of Preeminent Attorneys, Under Civil Trial Practice and Criminal Trial Practice
• Rated "Exceptionally Well Qualified" for Appointment to U.S. District Court Judgeship

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Los Angeles County Bar Association, International Law Section, 2007 - Present
  Member, Executive Committee
  
  
• Los Angeles County Superior Court, 2005 - Present
  Discovery Referee
  
  
• U.S. District Court Attorney Settlement Officer Panel, 2004 - Present
  Member
  
  
• Professional Liability Issues, 2003 - Present
  Expert Witness
  
  
• ADR Services, Inc., 2006 - 2008
  Mediator and Arbitrator
  
  
• American Arbitration Association, 2002 - Present
  Mediator and Arbitrator
  
  
• Los Angeles County Superior Court ADR Panel, 2002 - Present
  Mediator and Arbitrator
  
  
• Southern California Mediation Association, 2002 - Present
  Member
  
  
• American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution, 2002 - Present
  Member
  
  
• U.S. Magistrate Judge, Selection Committee, 2000 - 2005
  Member
  
  
• Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, 1999 - 2002
  Lawyer Representative
  
  
• Pacific Union College, 1997 - 2009
  Member, Board of Trustees
  
  
• Whittier Law Review Health Law Symposium, Fraud Issues, 1996 - 1998
  Moderator
  
  
• Federal Civil Practice, Federal Bar Association Annual Seminars, 1994 - 1998
  Panelist
  
  
• State Bar Program on Federal Criminal Practice, 1995
  Panelist
  
  
• Los Angeles County Bar Association Program on Federal Civil Practice, 1995
  Panelist
  
  
• State Bar Program on Demonstrative Evidence Techniques, 1994
  Moderator
  
  
• Hispanic National Bar Association Convention, Federal Criminal Practice, 1993
  Panelist
  
  
• The State Bar of California, 1992 - 1995
  Member of Criminal Law Section Executive Committee
  
  
• The State Bar of California, Criminal Law Section, 1992 - 1995
  Chair, Federal Courts Subcommittee
  
  
• Corinne Seeds University Elementary School, UCLA, 1993 - 1997
  Member, Board of Directors
  
  
• Boalt Hall Alumni Association, 1990 - 1993
  Member, Board of Directors
  
  
• Western Center on Law and Poverty, Inc., 1988 - 1994
  Member, Board of Directors
  
  
• Central District of California, Federal Indigent Criminal Defense Panel, 1988 - Present
  Member
  
  
• Community Youth Gang Services Project, 1986 - 1990
  Member, Board of Directors
  
  
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1986 - 2000
  Member, Federal Courts Committee
  
  
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1991 - 1993
  Chair, Criminal Practice Subcommittee
  
  
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, Fee Arbitration Panel, 1986 - Present
  Arbitrator
  
  
• Los Angeles County Municipal and Superior Courts, 1986 - 1998
  Judge Pro Tem
  
  
• Charles Pereyra-Suarez, 1984 - 1986
  Sole Practitioner
  
  
• Cleland House of Neighborly Services, 1982 - 1986
  Member, Board of Directors
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• Davis Wright Tremaine, Partner, 1995 - 1998
• McKenna & Cuneo, Partner, 1986 - 1995
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Senior Litigation Associate, 1982 - 1984
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Los Angeles , Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Division, 1979 - 1982
• U. S. Justice Department, Trial and Appellate Attorney, Civil Rights Division, 1976 - 1979
• Hon. William H. Webster, Special Advisor to the Los Angeles Police Commission, Deputy General Counsel, 1992
• Western Center on Law and Poverty, Inc., Staff Attorney, 1976
• Alameda County Public Defender's Office (Part-Time Law School Employment), Law Clerk, 1975
• San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc., Legal Intern, 1971 - 1973

Pro Bono Activities

• Legal Commentator, Univision Spanish-Language Radio Station KTNQ 1020 AM (Los Angeles), 2007 - 2008

Languages

• Spanish