Charles was born in El Paso, Texas and lives with his family in Lenexa, Kansas. Before law school, Charles drove 18-wheeler trucks across the country as a tanker division driver for Schneider National. Today, he is a trial lawyer, who handles trucking and auto cases in addition to matters involving products liability, commercial disputes, dram shop, professional liability, construction defects, premises liability, civil rights, constitutional law, and other types of complex litigation. Charles follows developments in artificial intelligence closely and will present on AI ethics in legal practice later in 2026.
 
In 2025, Charles received the Top Defense Verdict award from Missouri Lawyers Media for his work in a wrongful death trucking case in Kansas City involving alleged eight-figure damages. He went 4-0 in jury trials between December 2024 and October 2025.
 
Charles has litigated cases in more than 35 states, including serving as national litigation counsel for Fortune 500 companies Johnson Controls and Compass Group USA. His cases have involved wrongful death, catastrophic injury, products liability, dram shop, premises liability, civil rights, and commercial disputes.
 
He practices in Missouri and Kansas and is admitted in multiple federal districts across the country.
 
Representative Matters:
Jury trial in Jackson County, Missouri (first chair) in wrongful death trucking accident case with alleged eight-figure damages (defense verdict) (2025) #1 TOP DEFENSE VERDICT IN 2025 - MISSOURI LAWYERS MEDIA
Jury trial in St. Charles County, Missouri (first chair) in car accident case (defense verdict) (2025)
Jury trial in Greene County, Missouri (first chair) (defense verdict) (2025)
Jury trial in Clay County, Missouri (first chair) in damages only case (damages amount victory) (2024)
Jury trial in Putnam County, New York (second chair) involving admitted-liability commercial vehicle accident and alleged catastrophic injuries with alleged eight-figure damages (defense verdict)
Jury trial in Seattle, Washington (first chair) in property damage case involving an alleged failure in a fire-protection system product - obtained defense verdict for manufacturer by establishing installer fault
Jury trial in civil rights lawsuit in the Western District of Missouri (racial discrimination)
Jury trial in civil rights lawsuit in the Western District of Missouri (prisoner abuse allegations)
Partial additional trials in Paola, Kansas; Livingston, Louisiana; and Tuskegee, Alabama (cases resolved after jury selection/trial began)
Summary judgement on all claims in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (First Amendment)
Motion to dismiss granted in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (TCPA class action)
Summary judgement on all claims in the U.S. Middle District of Florida (premises liability with alleged seven-figure damages)
Summary judgement on all claims  in Los Angeles, Ca (premises liability)
Summary judgement on all claims in Indianapolis, Indiana, Marion County Superior Court, (lack of evidence)
Summary judgement on all claims in Lake County, Illinois (plant explosion causing severe personal injuries)
Summary judgement on all claims in Scott County, Minnesota (spoliation)
Summary judgment on all tort claims (on contract claims/economic loss doctrine) in Fairfax County, Virginia
Summary judgment in Harris County, Texas (on RICO claims)
Summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (on premises liability/negligent hiring, training, and supervision claims)
Arbitrations for matters in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina; Maricopa County, Arizona; Fulton County, Georgia; and Riverside County, California. (All awarded to the defendants)
 
Awards
TOP DEFENSE VERDICT IN 2025 - MISSOURI LAWYERS MEDIA
Press conference with Mayor Sly James, featured in Business Wire, Kansas City, Missouri (July 2014)
NHS Past, Present & Future, Kansas City, Missouri (June 2014)
Financial Leadership—Do You Have the Right Team?, NeighborWorks^® Executive Director Symposium, Washington, D.C. (April 2014)
Experts in Litigation, Presentation in Kansas City, Missouri (Fall 2011)

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Kansas Bar Association
• The Missouri Bar Association
• Johnson County Bar Association

Community Involvement

• Lenexa United Methodist Church, serving as Member and as Chair of the Church Council
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City, serving as Member and as Board Chair
• Brentwood Park Homeowners Association, serving as Member and as Board Chair