The law office of haytham faraj logo

Haytham Faraj

Trial Lawyer - Serious Injury, Civil Rights and Complex Criminal Defense


Haytham Faraj is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who specializes in civil rights, personal injury and criminal defense work. He represents clients in serious injury, civil rights and complex criminal cases in state and Federal courts. Mr. Faraj has represented clients in numerous complex cases that gained national and international notoriety. He has accumulated a remarkable record of successes that reflects his firm commitment to his clients and their interests. Mr. Faraj is licensed to practice in Illinois, California, Washington DC, Michigan and Iowa. He is also admitted to practice before numerous federal district and appellate courts.


Legal Career


Mr. Faraj began his legal career in the United States Marine Corps as a judge advocate representing accused service members. Following his retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps, he continued to represent service members before military courts but also began to represent civilian defendants in federal and state courts. In 2012, he founded his own firm and began to represent civil rights and serious injury victims. He has very successfully represented hundreds of clients in serious injury and wrongful death claims due to negligence, or intentional violations of their civil rights. Mr. Faraj also represents clients in medical and professional negligence claims, bad faith claims against insurance companies and select business disputes. Mr. Faraj continues to represent clients accused of serious criminal charges in federal, state and military courts.


Mr. Faraj has built a firm and a team that is committed to exceptional, aggressive and client-centered representation. Mr. Faraj’s approach to client representation reflects his embrace and commitment to the core values that he and every Marine must live by: honor, courage and commitment. Those values shape the work that the firm undertakes to accomplish on behalf of its clients to achieve a just and fair outcome.


Education


Mr. Faraj is a product of the Chicago public school system. He graduated from Mather High School, then immediately joined the Marine Corps. While in the Marine Corps he was one of a few selected from among thousands of Marines to attend college on a Marine Corps scholarship and to become a commissioned officer. He elected to attend The Military College of South Carolina, The Citadel. He completed his college studies in three years, magna cum laude, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1995. In 2002, Mr. Faraj was one of only 5 officers in the Marine Corps to be selected to attend law school. He attended the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. Following graduation from law school, he passed the Illinois Bar and then attended the Naval Justice School in New Port, Rhode Island. Following the Naval Justice School, he reported to Camp Pendleton, California, as a judge advocate.   



Mr. Faraj has developed a well-known and respected reputation as a winning, aggressive and relentless trial lawyer. He attributes his courtroom successes to his military training, discipline, and commitment to be better prepared, more skilled and more ready to engage in the legal combat that is trial practice than his opponents.

Trial Lawyer - Serious Injury, Civil Rights and Complex Criminal Defense


Haytham Faraj is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who specializes in civil rights, personal injury and criminal defense work. He represents clients in serious injury, civil rights and complex criminal cases in state and Federal courts. Mr. Faraj has represented clients in numerous complex cases that gained national and international notoriety. He has accumulated a remarkable record of successes that reflects his firm commitment to his clients and their interests. Mr. Faraj is licensed to practice in Illinois, California, Washington DC, Michigan and Iowa. He is also admitted to practice before numerous federal district and appellate courts.


Legal Career


Mr. Faraj began his legal career in the United States Marine Corps as a judge advocate representing accused service members. Following his retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps, he continued to represent service members before military courts but also began to represent civilian defendants in federal and state courts. In 2012, he founded his own firm and began to represent civil rights and serious injury victims. He has very successfully represented hundreds of clients in serious injury and wrongful death claims due to negligence, or intentional violations of their civil rights. Mr. Faraj also represents clients in medical and professional negligence claims, bad faith claims against insurance companies and select business disputes. Mr. Faraj continues to represent clients accused of serious criminal charges in federal, state and military courts.


Mr. Faraj has built a firm and a team that is committed to exceptional, aggressive and client-centered representation. Mr. Faraj’s approach to client representation reflects his embrace and commitment to the core values that he and every Marine must live by: honor, courage and commitment. Those values shape the work that the firm undertakes to accomplish on behalf of its clients to achieve a just and fair outcome.


Education


Mr. Faraj is a product of the Chicago public school system. He graduated from Mather High School, then immediately joined the Marine Corps. While in the Marine Corps he was one of a few selected from among thousands of Marines to attend college on a Marine Corps scholarship and to become a commissioned officer. He elected to attend The Military College of South Carolina, The Citadel. He completed his college studies in three years, magna cum laude, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1995. In 2002, Mr. Faraj was one of only 5 officers in the Marine Corps to be selected to attend law school. He attended the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. Following graduation from law school, he passed the Illinois Bar and then attended the Naval Justice School in New Port, Rhode Island. Following the Naval Justice School, he reported to Camp Pendleton, California, as a judge advocate.   



Mr. Faraj has developed a well-known and respected reputation as a winning, aggressive and relentless trial lawyer. He attributes his courtroom successes to his military training, discipline, and commitment to be better prepared, more skilled and more ready to engage in the legal combat that is trial practice than his opponents.

Notable Trial Successes

United States v. K.R. (2006 – Acquittal on all charges) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Trent Thomas (2007 – Acquittal of 1st degree murder and war crimes charges) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Michael Young (2006 – Acquittal on charges of rape and sex assault) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Gabriel Sganga (2009 -Acquittal on all charges including sexual assault and rape) Quantico, VA.

United States v. Matthew McCabe (2009 – Navy Seal acquitted of war crimes charges) Norfolk, VA.

United States v. Issam Hamama (2009 – Acquittal of federal conspiracy and espionage charges) U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

United States v. D.W. (2010 – Acquittal of multiple rape charges) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Frank Wuterich (2012 – 24 charges of 1st degree murder and war crimes. Charges dropped after 3 weeks of trial) San Diego, CA.

3D Global Solutions v. MVM, Inc. (2012 – Plaintiff’s verdict of more than 2 million Dollars in contract breach lawsuit) U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

People v. Chammas (2014 – Official misconduct charges dropped on 1st day of trial) DuPage County, IL,

United States v. Nicolas Vega (2013 – Acquittal of assault charges) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Nathan Truitt (2014 – Acquittal of theft and drug charges) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Brandon Keck (2014 – Acquittal of sex assault charges)

United States v. Reece Tso (2014 – Acquittal on 34 of 36 sex assault charges) San Diego, CA.

United States v. Jean Romain (2014 – 1st degree murder and conspiracy charges dropped after preliminary hearing) North Carolina.

United States v. Rodriguez (2015 – Acquittal of sex assault charges).

United States v. Nicholas Woodson (2015 – Acquittal of drug possession and distribution charges) St. Louis, Missouri.

United States v. Ayman Wazne (2015 – Acquittal of federal charges) U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

United States v. William Aossey Jr. (2015 Acquittal of federal money laundering charges. Conviction of misrepresentation; obtained a sentence 70% less than the guideline range) U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

United States v. Midamar Corporation (2015 – Substantial departure from the guidelines with a fine of $20k. Guideline was $500k to $1.5m).

Danielle Laws v. Andrew Chen (2016 – $21,657,000 verdict for plaintiff in Traumatic Brain Injury auto collision case) Los Angeles, CA.

People v. F.A. (2016 full acquittal of very serious sexual assault and rape charges) Chicago, IL. 

Lisa Lopez v. Rich’s San Diego (2017 – $5,700,000 verdict for plaintiff who lost eyesight in one eye when she was assaulted at a San Diego Bar. San Diego, CA.

United States v. Xavier Silva (2018 war crimes charges dropped and dismissed against Navy Seal) San Diego, CA.

Teena Brailsford v. Devon Roach (2019 – 1.7 million dollars verdict for plaintiff who suffered a serious neck injury in a two-car crash) U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

Omar Hermenegildo v. California Pottery and Tile Works (2019 – 13 million dollars verdict for wrongful death of a child) Los Angeles, CA.

Military Career


Mr. Faraj began his legal career as a military defense lawyer and then the senior defense lawyer in charge at Camp Pendleton, California. When he left the United states Marine Corps, he had culminated a career that spanned 22 years. During that period, he had served in a variety of assignments and locations as an enlisted infantryman, an NCO and later as an infantry officer. His military career included assignments as a squad leader, a section leader, embassy duty in Africa and Europe, platoon commander, company commander and operations officer. Mr. Faraj also served in a unique assignment as a Foreign Area Officer for the Middle East and North Africa regions as an area expert due to his experience in the region and language fluency. During his Marine Corps career, he deployed numerous times to Southwest Asia, East Asia, Africa and throughout the Pacific. He is the recipient of numerous medals and awards including the Combat Action Ribbon. His proudest military achievement is receipt of the Wheeler Award for infantry excellence upon completion of the Infantry Officer Course, considered to be among the most challenging professional military schools in the world.


Military Awards & Recognition

Meritorious Service Medal

Combat Action Ribbon

Navy-Marine Corp Commendation Medal

Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal

Humanitarian Service Medal

Wheeler Award for infantry excellence

Honor graduate of Officer Basic Course and Officer Candidate School

Hobbies & Volunteer Work


In his free time Mr. Faraj enjoys participating in endurance athletic events. He has completed numerous Ironman triathlons, marathons and multiple one hundred plus miles cycling events including Race Across the West. He is active in Ride 2 Recovery, a cycling-centered program that assists veterans in recovering from combat wounds.


Memberships

Illinois State Bar Association

Chicago Bar Association

American Association of Justice

Speaking, Publishing, & Teaching


Mr. Faraj has authored several articles on the practice of law and has co-authored a book about the Haditha incident and the trial that followed. The book, ” No Time For The Truth,” was published in the Spring of 2014, is available on Amazon.


Mr. Faraj has had several television appearances to discuss legal matters. He has also been featured on NPR, Al-Jazeera, Russia TV Network, Fox News and KTLA.


Mr. Faraj is a fluent Arabic speaker.

Share by: