Charles G. La Bella
Email: clabella@labellamcnamara.com
Mr. La Bella, former United States Attorney, First Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division for the Southern District of California, is a founding member of the firm. He was a federal prosecutor for 16 years, serving in Washington, D.C., and in the Southern Districts of New York and California. He was a consultant to the Republic of Bulgaria's Ministry of Justice in 1992, working directly with the Minister of Justice to conduct prosecutorial and judicial ethics training. Former Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Mr. La Bella to supervise the Campaign Financing Task Force from 1997 to 1998, to investigate possible violations of federal campaign finance laws during the 1996 presidential election-a job for which he received the FBI Director's Award for Distinguished Service to Law Enforcement. During his service in the Southern District of California, he received the Justice Department Director's Award for Superior Service, for the successful prosecution of corruption charges against three former San Diego County Superior Court judges and a San Diego attorney.
Since moving into the private sector in 1999, Mr. La Bella has provided clients with his expertise and judgment in the areas of white-collar criminal defense, business litigation, federal and state regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings, corporate internal investigations, corporate governance and compliance issues, health care fraud, and public corruption investigations.
Mr. La Bella's recent work includes serving as Senior Vice President and Special Counsel for a major software company, during which he directed an internal investigation into accounting irregularities; serving as court appointed receiver in Securities and Exchange Commission matters regarding Ponzi schemes; serving as court appointed receiver in a California Department of Corporations fraud action; representing a high level executive of a major health care corporation that involved two complex federal jury trials; representing public officials and senior executives during the course of grand jury, enforcement and regulatory investigations, and securities class action matters.
Mr. La Bella's pro bono public service includes his appointment as one of the seven inaugural Ethics Commissioners on the City of San Diego Ethics Commission, where he served from 2001 to 2003.
Mr. La Bella received his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 1978, where he was a member of the Fordham Law Review. Mr. La Bella served as clerk for the Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, from 1978 to 1980. Mr. La Bella was awarded an Honorary J.D. degree from California Western School of Law in 1998.
Mr. La Bella is a member of the California Bar, the New York Bar, and the Florida Bar (inactive). He is admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern and Central Districts of California, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Ninth and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is a member of and has served as a Director of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the San Diego County Bar Association.
