Charisma T. Lam serves as Of Counsel with Garcia Hernández Sawhney, LLP’s Education Law practice group. Charisma has over 15 years of experience serving as general counsel and special counsel to school districts, counties, and other public entities.
Prior to joining GHS, she served as General Attorney with the Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and as Assistant Attorney General with the Office of the Attorney General in Massachusetts. She also served as Senior Assistant State’s Attorney with the Civil Division of the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois. In those capacities, she has handled labor and employment negotiations, employee discipline, tort claim defense, and civil enforcement actions. She has litigated numerous cases before state and federal courts, arbitrators, and administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
Practice Areas
- General Counsel
- Litigation
- Labor and Employment
Education
- University of California at Berkeley – School of Law (J.D.)
- University of California at Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business (B.S. in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance) – Graduated with High Honors
Bar Admissions
- California State Bar
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Texas State Bar
Court Admissions
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals, First Circut
- United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circut
- S. District Court, Central District of California
- S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
- S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
