OUR TEAM

Charles Swift

Criminal Department Head

Charles Swift is the Criminal Department Head at MLFA´s legal Division. He was named by National Law Review as one of the top 100 legal minds in the nation. He is a retired Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Charles is most known for winning the U.S. Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfield for his client, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

Following his military career, Charles was a visiting professor and head of the Humanitarian Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, before leaving to enter private practice in Seattle.

Charles has been a regular contributor on the topics of military law and terrorism for national news programs including MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, NPR, and Fox News. He has received numerous awards for his advocacy, including recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus at Seattle University School of Law, ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Medal for Distinguished Service, and was runner-up for Lawyer of the Year in 2005 as well as being named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in 2006 by the National Law Journal.