Charles’ litigation practice is focused primarily in the areas of environmental contamination, public works contracts, municipal construction, personal injury, civil rights, construction defect, construction accidents, transportation, medical malpractice and wrongful death.  He has represented municipalities in environmental toxic tort cases in federal and state court including the successful handling of the multi-million dollar case, involving major chemical companies where he defended a city’s design, construction and maintenance of its sewer system from contamination claims.  Charles has given presentations to the Contra Costa County City Attorneys Association and the Central Valley City Attorneys Association regarding legal developments in municipal liability and public works cases, while defending private developers, general contractors and subcontractors in construction defect cases.  Charles has also successfully prosecuted personal injury claims involving the maintenance and operation of a state park and the failure to safely operate a municipal bus system.

Before his legal career, Charles served on the congressional staff for Doug Bosco, who served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the First District of California.  He later worked as a newspaper reporter, covering the military space and missile programs at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the incarceration of former Cuban criminals at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary and the treatment of white-collar criminals at the Lompoc Federal Prison Camp.  He eventually joined the San Luis Obispo Telegraph-Tribune covering the cities of San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, Paso Robles and Atascadero including the nearby Atascadero State Hospital, a maximum-security facility that houses mentally ill convicts.

Admitted

California, 1997
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
 

Education

J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law, 1997
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1982