Attorney at Law
Major,
USMC (Ret.)
Haytham Faraj is a criminal defense attorney with extensive litigation experience practicing from the Detroit MI, Washington DC and San Diego CA areas. Mr. Faraj served 22 years in the United States Marine Corps culminating his career in the position of senior military defense counsel at Camp Pendleton, CA, the busiest court-martial office in the entire U.S. Armed Forces. He also served in several non-legal billets including Company executive officer and commanding officer, Middle East Foreign Area Officer and infantry officer. He is fluent in Arabic and has extensive international leadership experience.
Mr. Faraj joined the Marine Corps from his hometown of Chicago, Illinois in 1986. He achieved the rank of staff sergeant and served in a variety of jobs including assignment to embassy duty. In 1995 he was selected for the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) and enrolled in the Military College of South Carolina, The Citadel. He completed his BA in Political Science in less than three years, graduating magna cum laude and in the top 2% of his class. He was selected to the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ honor roll at The Basic School and was the honor graduate from the Infantry Officer Course in 1996.
In March of 1996, he was assigned to Third Battalion, First Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA, where he served as an infantry platoon commander and an 81 millimeter mortar platoon commander. He deployed with his platoons to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf on several occasions with the 11th and 13th Marine Expeditionary Units Special Operations Capable (MEU SOC). Subsequent assignments included Company Commander of the Field and Training Company at Weapons and Field Training Battalion where he was responsible for the field training of over 17,000 recruits annually.
In 2000 he was reassigned to be the Operations Officer and Middle East Foreign Area Officer with the Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO). While serving as Operations Officer, he and his unit participated in operations and training with the Armed Forces of the Sultanate of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and the UAE. He also assisted in negotiating bilateral training agreements and served as an adviser on tactics, training and equipment. As the Operations Officer, he also led and managed the operations section of the unit which had cognizance over logistics, communications, transportation, personnel and training for the 90-man unit that was responsible for providing air, ship and ground based fire support to the First Marine Expeditionary Force.
In 2002, Mr. Faraj was one of a few officers selected to the Marine Corps’ Law Education Program. He attended The American University Washington College of Law and received a Juris Doctorate degree in 2005. While in law school Mr. Faraj interned at a non-profit civil rights organization, the office of the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and as a prosecutor at Camp Pendleton, CA. In December of 2005, Mr. Faraj was assigned to the defense attorney section at Camp Pendleton, California. In early 2006, he assumed leadership of the defense attorney section as the Senior Defense Counsel.
Mr. Faraj is a seasoned court-martial and trial lawyer and litigator whose vast leadership experience allows him to provide aggressive, innovative, caring and comprehensive legal representation to his clients. He defends his military clients to resolve security clearance issues, military discharges and court-martial and non-judicial punishment actions.
He is a proud graduate of the Trial Lawyers College and an active alumnus. The Trial Lawyers College is a unique and outstanding institution whose sole focus is training attorneys to provide excellent representation to people in the pursuit of justice. It was founded by renowned attorney and author Gerry Spence. Mr. Faraj frequently participates in Trial Lawyers College seminars, workshops and focus groups that seek to enhance how attorneys represent and advocate for their clients. He was recently selected to by the Board of The Trial Lawyers College to join the staff as an instructor.