Haytham Faraj to Receive Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award!

Haytham Faraj to Receive Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award!

Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | June 2, 2014 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is proud to announce Mr. Haytham Faraj will be the recipient of the 2014 ADC Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award. The Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year award is given each year to an Attorney who exhibits dedication and commitment to the Arab American community, and strives to attain justice. 

Haytham Faraj is a renowned trial attorney, retired Marine Corps officer and author. He has assisted the ADC Legal Department in several key civil rights cases and in addressing a number of policy concerns. Faraj serves as a regular consultant to the ADC Legal Department, providing insight into matters that impact Arab Americans on a regular basis. Faraj has been an enormous help to ADC, and is a staunch defender of civil rights and liberties.

The Award will be presented at the Annual Civil Rights Luncheon, which will be held on Friday June 13 at 12:30. The Keynote Speaker at the Luncheon is Mr. Richard Cohen, President of the Sothern Poverty Law Center. 

Register now for the ADC National Convention and join us in honoring Mr. Faraj and other community leaders and activists, June 12-15 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA. Space is limited so make sure to sign up today! To view the full Convention program click here.

About Haytham Faraj:

Haytham Faraj is a renowned trial attorney, retired Marine Corps officer and author.  He was born in Lebanon and raised in Lebanon and Kuwait.  His family immigrated to the United States in 1980 and settled in Chicago.  He attended Chicago public school and graduated from high school in 1986.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1986 at the age of 17.  That began a twenty-two year career that would span the globe and result in his receiving numerous military awards and academic scholarships to attend college and law school.  

From 1986 to 1992 he served in several infantry and non-infantry units in a variety of locations in the U.S. and abroad, including the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti and the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm.

In 1992, he was selected to become an officer and attended The Military College of South Carolina, The Citadel.  In 1995, he graduated magna cum laude in under three years with a BA in International Relations and Military Affairs.  Following graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and reported to Quantico, Virginia, to undergo training as a basic officer and later as an infantry officer.  

He achieved distinction during officer training and was recognized by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.  He achieved further distinction by graduating at the top his class from the Marine Corps’ grueling Infantry Officers Course and was awarded the Wheeler Award for infantry excellence and leadership.

Following the Infantry Officer’s Course, he reported to Camp Pendleton, California, where he served in a variety of assignments including infantry Platoon Commander, Executive Officer, Company Commander, and Operations Officer.  He participated in numerous missions including combat operations, humanitarian relief operations, bi-lateral and multi-lateral training operations in more than fifteen nations.  He was also an exchange officer to several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Jordan.  

In 2002, Mr. Faraj applied to the Marine Corps Law Education Program and was selected as one of only seven officers to attend law school.  He attended the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC and received his Juris Doctor degree cum laude in 2005.  

Following law school, Mr. Faraj completed the Naval Justice School in Newport Rhode Island, and was assigned as a Defense Counsel at Camp Pendleton, California.  In 2006, he was promoted to Senior Defense Counsel.  In 2008, Mr. Faraj retired from the Marine Corps with the rank of Major after twenty-two years of service to pursue civilian endeavors.

Following retirement, in 2008, he co-founded the Law Firm of Puckett and Faraj in Alexandria, Virginia.  In 2012, Mr. Faraj ventured on his own and started The Law Offices of Haytham Faraj.  The firm focuses on a narrow set of practice areas including civil, business and commercial litigation, criminal defense and civil rights.

The law firm represents clients throughout the United States and has offices in Chicago and Dearborn, Michigan.  Mr. Faraj has tried more than seventy five jury trials.  Among his most famous is his representation of a Syrian American gentleman accused of spying, an Iraqi American gentleman accused of spying and his representation of a small company sued by a large government contractor for more than 2.5 million dollars.

His most famous trial is what has come to be known as the Haditha incident and that led to the book No Time For Truth in which Mr. Faraj investigates the murders and accuses the government of giving immunity from prosecution to the killers.  The book will be published this summer and is currently available on Amazon.  Mr. Faraj was also recently prominently featured in the 2014 Pulitzer winning article “Other Than Honorable” by David Philips, published in the Colorado Springs Gazette on the treatment of injured vets being discharged without benefits which featured Mr. Faraj’s successful representation of a wounded vet after he was denied benefits and wrongfully imprisoned by the Army.   

Mr. Faraj is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Michigan, the District of Columbia and California.  He is also admitted in numerous federal jurisdictions around the country, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.  

He is a proud graduate of the Trial Lawyers College.  The Trial Lawyers College was founded by legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence in 1994 with a mission to train trial lawyers to provide exceptional representation to ordinary people, the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the defenseless and the damned and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression.  In 2010, Mr. Faraj was invited to join the faculty of the Trial Lawyers College.  Every year he volunteers 4-6 weeks to teach several programs and seminars to trial lawyers throughout the U.S. with the Trial Lawyers College.

Mr. Faraj has appeared as a speaker on ABC, NPR, Al-Jazeera, BBC, Fox News, Russian Television and at numerous legal conventions and seminars.  

He enjoys participating in endurance sports.  He has completed several Ironman Triathlons, the Wild West Relay, the Race Across the West bicycle race and numerous other marathons and triathlons.